To Our Untold Future
by Infinite Skye
Summary: "You will hate basketball." During 2nd year, Kuroko receives a strange letter allegedly sent by his future self. Continuing to foretell a horrible future, it asks him to change that, to save the GOM. But, changing the future is never easy, especially when strange things occur amongst them, things caused...by his future self. Was it really all for a "better" future? AU. Time Travel
1. Entry 1: An Ordinary Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke in any way but this story belongs to me.

**So I decided to make another story...(yet again)**

**And this time, it's on half-time travel because I'm evil and I thought out this full-blown mystery plot about how Kuroko attempts to change the future with evil forces(?) stopping him hurhur.**

**Of course, the other reason I wrote this was cuz I wanted to write about Middle school GOM cuz omg they are too precious.**

**especially Pure!mine. I swear, if he didn't change, he would be in a three-way tie against Kuroko and Akashi. **

* * *

**Tags:**

**GOM x Kuroko, **

** Humor, Mystery, Suspense, Time travel, Fluff**

* * *

**Entry 1: An Ordinary Day  
**

As his powder blue locks brushed against the outside of his shoe locker, Kuroko Tetsuya blinked.

There was something...in his locker.

Staring blankly at the rather expensive-looking manilla covering that framed the item and its delicate placement on top of his outdoor shoes...he found that he could no longer deny it, it was definitely a letter-addressed to him.

Although a normal male student would've instantly have been fidgeting nervously at the possibility of it being a love letter, Kuroko Tetsuya merely glanced at it with curiosity. At least, like a normal male student, a hint of surprised flashed across his features. After all, with his lack of presence, the fact that someone would even be able to figure out the placement of his shoe locker was new to him.

Curiously, his hand maneuvered towards it, taking it out from the depths of his locker before gently folding it open and lightly skimming its contents.

Ever so slightly, surprise lit across his ever-expressionless face.

He admits, this was certainly beyond his expectation.

_To the me of the past,_

_Hopefully you are beginning your second year at Teiko right now. Have you been well?_

_I'm writing this to you from three years into the future and yes, it isn't very long but despite that, in this world...a lot of things have changed._

_That's why I'm writing to you, so you can help me change the past._

Kuroko's expression stayed unchanged. Was this a prank? The letter was typed in Times New Roman font, making it impossible to perform a handwriting check and in the first place, a letter claiming to be from the future itself was questionable.

Yet as an avid lover of mystery novels, that only maxed out his curiosity meter as he read on with a face of intrigue.

_But you probably won't believe me so easily. So before you decide to call this a prank,_ _at the very least, please follow the instructions in this letter for one day._

_April 20th  
_

_Today you ate lunch with the rest of the regulars on the basketball team. They made you remember that you had left your indoor shoes in the gym. _

_You decided to not return it back to your shoe locker until school ended._

Kuroko blinked, eyes trailing to the indoor shoes in his hand. Indeed, he did leave it, and like it stated, the only reason he even came to his locker was to return it.

A faint smile spread onto his lips.

Well, this was going to be an interesting day.

_After school, you have basketball practice again. _

_Akashi-kun won't be attending but Aomine-kun will be the first to arrive as usual. You'll find him with Midorima-kun by the benches._

_Today will seem like a pretty normal day but it won't be._

_Because today you will meet someone new. _

_You will meet a second year named _**_Kise Ryouta._**

_Be it for better or for worse, even if you wanted to, you won't be able to forget his name._

"Oi, Aomine, have you seen Kuroko?" Midorima Shintaro asked or rather, demanded as he walked up to Aomine who was busying himself with stretching.

"Ah? No, but isn't that the whole point?" Aomine replied, getting up before craning his neck muscles around.

Midorima scowled. "Hmph, that's simply an excuse for being late, I'll have to make a record of that for Akashi," Midorima scoffed, referring to his duties as vice-captain since Akashi happened to be away at a Shogi tournament.

"Midorima-kun, as I said before, I was here the whole time, please don't make strange assumptions." Kuroko replied, instantly popping up from beside the verdant youth.

Midorima jolted up with a start. "K-KUROKO!" he gasped, clearly paling from the shock.

"Hey Tetsu!" Aomine greeted, holding out his fist while Kuroko bumped it in greeting.

"See Midorima, he was here the whole time so don't start writing random stuff down," Aomine smirked, slinging his arm around the bluenette's shoulders.

"Hmph, I'll make an exception this time," Midorima huffed, attempting to appear unfazed by the shock.

Kuroko glanced at the teen curiously. "Midorima-kun you're really passionate about your new position," Kuroko expressed. Since the captain was away, obviously the duty of roll call would fall to the vice.

"Hmph, of course. If I am given a task it is only natural to perform it to the best of my abilities," Midorima proudly announced. "Which reminds me, Kuroko starting from today, Akashi told me to assign you to a special role."

"A special role?" Kuroko asked, although in truth, he already had a feeling he knew what it was. Most likely, this was going to lead him to a meeting with "Kise Ryouta."

"Yes, you see, apparently one of the third-stringers scored extremely high on the last ranking test so he was appointed to first-string today. Akashi said that you are to be his personal trainer," Midorima explained.

"Hah? Oi doesn't that mean Tetsu won't be practicing with us?" Aomine suddenly intervened, clearly not content with the idea.

"True but they are Akashi's orders, it's not like we can do anything about them," Midorima sighed and with that one sentence, Aomine begrudging resigned.

Well, it was Akashi after all, not only was he never wrong but if there was someone who defied him…well Aomine would rather affectionately think of it as bloodshed…the lightest punishment that can be received. As for the worst…even he would rather not consider it.

"Akashi-kun's orders…then who is it Midorima-kun?" Kuroko asked-just for the heck of it.

"He's called K—"

"Aominecchi!" In an instant, from across the court, an effervescent voice practically jumping with joy rang out as the trio turned to a male the same age as them, blond hair bouncing around attractively, revealing a single silver earring every now and then.

"Oh, Kise!" Aomine cried, surprised by the blond's sudden appearance.

Midorima and Kuroko turned to him for answers.

"Aomine, you already knew the first-stringer?" Midorima asked.

"Of course! Aominecchi and I go way back!" Kise exclaimed, answering for the male before he was whacked in the head.

"Hah? I only met you two weeks ago! And how many times do I have to tell you to not add the 'cchi'?" Aomine demanded but it was clear that the two were still somewhat close.

"Ehh but I told you that I add 'cchi' to the people I respect, shouldn't you be happy?" Kise whined.

"Why would I be happy to have such a creepy nickname?" Aomine retorted, causing the blond to whine back, allowing a strange badinage to form between the two.

Clearly wanting to begin his shooting practice, Midorima cleared his throat, attempting to catch their attention but yes, _attempting_ because it proved to be of no avail.

Sadly, he wasn't Akashi and that spoke a world's difference for the colorful personalities of the two.

"It's no good Midorima-kun, you have to do it like this," Midorima heard Kuroko say before the youth vanished before the green-head's eyes and sudden yelps of pain resounded in the room.

"OWW!" the bantering duo cried, feeling the sharp pain of being kneed in weakest part of the human body.

"OI TETSU! You did that didn't you?!" Aomine scowled, eyes glaring daggers at the boy who blankly glanced back at him, reappearing right next to Midorima.

"Aomine-kun, I would have to be an idiot to admit to that," Kuroko bluntly retorted.

Midorima flinched. Kuroko might've actually been the most terrifying after Akashi.

"Eh? There was a fourth person here?" Midorima suddenly heard Kise utter before he whipped back at the blond who seemed to be in a state of shock.

Midorima smirked; well it _was_ their "phantom 6th man" after all.

"Yes, but this makes things easier Kise Ryouta. This is Kuroko Tetsuya and to commemorate your promotion to first-string, he will be your personal trainer." Midorima announced, causing a clear frown to crease the model's pretty face.

Who wouldn't?

Kise was smart, he knew exactly what Midorima meant by a "personal trainer" but…why was it someone so short and had a presence close to air?! "Eh but—"

"Heh, aren't you lucky now Kise? You get to train with my partner," Aomine smirked, slinging his arm around the teen once more.

Kise seemed even more confused. How could such a weak-looking guy be considered Aomine's partner?!

"Well, nice to meet you, Kise-kun," Kuroko greeted, giving him a polite bow.

Kise seemed as if he wanted to protest at such a thing but suddenly, as if he reached an epiphany, his features instantly beamed.

Since this "Kuroko Tetsuya" was considered _Aomine's partner_ and by the looks of it, clearly a regular, Kise instantly found him to be extremely fascinating. Besides, if Kise recalled, the captain of the basketball team was um…short as well and nobody dared to comment about that so there had to be something interesting about the boy!

"Nice to meet you too Kuroko-kun!" Kise exclaimed, flashing the most bedazzling smile he could manage.

Sadly, around 15 minutes later, Kise realized that he was wrong…very wrong.

The boy couldn't play basketball to save his life.

**[-]**

_Kise-kun is a very fast-learner, you will notice that he can copy any move he sees after one glance however, because of that, it can be conversely said that he is very impatient._

_His personality is a bit too free and thus will not bother to be polite around those he doesn't acknowledge. _

_During practice, he will constantly try to sneak away and attempt to play with Aomine-kun and will soon grow to be a bit impertinent._

_But that is not necessarily a bad thing. You will notice that once you see him play because first and foremost, Kise Ryouta is definitely a genius._

Kuroko stared at the contents of the letter with a slight smile. It seems that the letter really was sent from the future. It seemed to have held the exact impression Kise Ryouta had left on Kuroko.

Sure enough, Kise did attempt to sneak off but that was easily prevented by the boy since he knew that from the contents of the letter. He wasn't even all that bothered by Kise's sudden bored and lethargic attitude but more than that, how could he after watching Kise play? Kuroko didn't need Akashi's "Emperor Eye" to know that slowly and surely, Kise Ryouta would someday become an amazing basketball player.

Although Kuroko did feel a bit envious of Kise's abilities and his monstrous growth, with a smile he glanced up at the dusk-ridden sky, standing by the door of the deserted 4th gym.

Well, mulling over that wouldn't have changed a thing. Anyways, right now, it was the beginning of _their _time.

"Hey Tetsu, how did you do on your first day as a personal trainer?" Kuroko heard a voice ask from inside as a basketball was tossed to him.

Kuroko strode inside. "It was interesting Aomine-kun, Kise-kun does have a lot of potential after all," Kuroko voiced, easily catching the ball. "In fact, I think I have an idea for a new pass."

"Oh? Then show me Tetsu!" Aomine grinned, readying himself to catch his partner's pass.

"Of course, Aomine-kun."

_ Although something new will happen today, in the end it will be the same. _

_As usual, you will play basketball and repeatedly have the time of your life. It is what you love after all. _

_Do you believe me now? _

_Because you have to if you plan on reading the next part—where these "usual" days will shatter into bits._

_In the future, you will hate basketball. _

_It will steal those important to you._

_It will send you to despair._

_Yet even so, you will play, because for you love and hate are merely on opposite sides of the very same coin._

_So instead of changing basketball, please change the past in my stead and save…the Generation of Miracles._

* * *

**Owari.  
**

**Note: Since I realized that a lot of reviews have asked about this story's similarity to ORANGE by Takano Ichigo, the answer is: "Surprisingly, that was a coincidence since I never read it till after I wrote this chapter (And it was really awesome)" **

**I must admit, the beginning is shockingly similar but, now that I've actually read ORANGE, I can confidently say that this will go in quite a different direction. ;D**

**Preview:**

**Irregularities-**After a week has passed, Kuroko began to notice some strange irregularities about the letter while Akashi began to notice Kuroko's new ability to "predict the future". Yet even so, the story plows on as Kise, clearly not impressed with his personal trainer was forced to partner up with him for a game. There, for the first time in his life, despair will wash over him...yet at the same time, hope will too.

**Thank you for reading this!**

**I will update this story as soon as I can, so please lend me your support as well!  
**

**Infinite Skye.  
**


	2. Entry 2: Irregularities

**Thank you for all the support, I'm very grateful for all the follows, favs, and reviews!**

**Hopefully you'll all continue to support me till the end of this story!**

* * *

**Entry 2: Irregularities**

Since the day Kuroko first found the letter, a week had passed.

The letter was right about everything, down to a T yet because of that, Kuroko couldn't help but notice its irregularities.

First of all, Kuroko didn't own a diary and despite the letter claiming to be sent from 3 years into the future, the details contained were frighteningly accurate. However, at the same time, Kuroko noticed that some entries were extremely generic, barely containing any detail save for a few short notes.

There were two possibilities for this: a) perhaps in a parallel world, Kuroko did own a diary or b) something happened for his future self to still manage to clearly remember the events of his middle school days.

Although the latter sounded more likely, the former couldn't be ruled out either. Since a detective never judged without conclusive evidence, instead, Kuroko decided to flip to the last page of the letter—where there was a definite problem.

The contents of the letter only lasted a week.

Past that, there was nothing else contained within except for a blank last page. Although it was possible that the letters would come on a weekly basis, today was the last day its contents would prove to be useful yet as Kuroko took a bite out of his bento and glanced up at the sea of students roaming around in the cafeteria, it was clear that the day was already halfway over-yet still no letter.

Naturally, there was a trick behind all this yet instead of contemplating it further, Kuroko promptly stashed the letter back into the depths of his knapsack.

"Tetsuya," Kuroko suddenly heard the sound of his name being called…by a dangerously familiar person.

"Akashi-kun, everyone," Kuroko greeted as his red-haired captain strode towards him, followed by the rest of the Generation of Miracles.

_Today you will eat lunch with the Generation of Miracles. As usual, Akashi-kun will be the person to actually find you. _

Luckily, Kuroko made it just in time. Although he didn't have a clear reason why he would hide the letters from the Generation of Miracles, he didn't feel that there was a need for it to be shared, especially not with his all-knowing captain.

"But as expected of Akashi-kun, for you to find me so quickly," Kuroko mused as he watched the rest of the gang take their seats, particularly to Akashi who placidly took his seat across from the powder blue youth.

"That's a given Tetsuya. I'm the one who discovered you; I'll always be able to find you," Akashi refuted without even batting an eye before opening his intricately designed lunchbox, revealing an assortment of sushi.

"Pfft! Akashi, as usual you can say such embarrassing stuff with a straight face," Aomine snorted as he took his seat beside Akashi, clearly too dim to fear for his life.

Akashi promptly dropped his chopsticks.

"Well Daiki, is that not true however? That I will always be able to find Tetsuya," Akashi challenged, flashing a terrifying glint in his eyes at Aomine.

"..Urk yeah but—"

"Akashi-kun's right Aomine-kun," Kuroko deadpanned.

Aomine gaped at the injustice. "Oi Tetsu are you siding with him?!" Aomine demanded.

"Pretty much if despite spending so much time with me, Aomine-kun still can't find me before Akashi-kun does," Kuroko deadpanned, striking a nerve as his partner flinched.

"O-oi!"

"Hmph, that's pretty much expected of Ahomi—"

"Midorima-kun too," Kuroko silenced, causing their SG to cringe, dropping his soup spoon into his udon set, landing with a loud *plop* as bits of soup base splattered onto his uniform.

"Pfft heh, serves you right Midorima," Aomine guffawed, knowing very well of what a clean freak the teen was.

A vein popped.

Aomine was untimely kicked in the shin. "OWW! Damn you Midorima!" Aomine cried, wincing in pain. Midorima probably used at least half his strength as an athlete.

"Hmph, that was clearly brought upon yourself," Midorima declared, pushing up his glasses in a rather haughty manner.

Of course, his collar was instantly grabbed and like that, the two got into another one of their banters…again.

"Aka-chin~ Can I have that tamagoyaki?" Murasakibara who was seated comfortably beside Kuroko the whole time asked, completely disregarding their scuffle and instead was hungrily eyeing Akashi's perfectly cooked tamagoyaki.

Amidst the loud yelps and yells, the red-head smiled, "of course Atsushi," as he nonchalantly picked up his chopsticks and pulled the delicious yellow plump of egg towards the giant.

Kuroko followed suite to their actions, after all, with Midorima's almost narcissistic self-confidence and Aomine's wild and free impulsive instincts, the two clashed so often that stopping the two simply became a waste of effort.

"Ah, Akashi-kun, please lean down a bit," Kuroko suddenly asked, surprising the red-head with his sudden request.

"Yes Tetsuya?" Akashi replied, complying to his request after seeing Kuroko leaned down towards the youth, causing him to expect the bluenette to pose him a question.

Yet, instead of hearing said question, something whizzed above his the tuft of his scarlet hair, causing his eyes to widen in distaste. Clearly, he knew what had just occurred as he stared at the flying object that had clashed into the wall—a lucky cat keychain.

He slowly stood up, the eerie sound of a pushed out chair, causing all commotion to silence itself as he turned…to Aomine.

"Daiki." He said, voice sending chills throughout the Ace as the tanned teen gulped.

"Ah, no that was just a-an accident, s-seriously I did not mean to a-aim at y-you with that," Aomine stuttered, his 6th sense causing his voice to struggle as every part of his body was telling him to flee.

"Daiki. Come," Akashi ordered, not even a shred of mercy in his voice as he motioned the teen over.

"A-akashi…"

"COME," Akashi repeated…with a smile.

The whole group grimaced at the sight.

Aomine flinched, and then resigned. "Ahh, I got it already!" He cried, swiftly stomping forward in his attempt to replace fear with irritation.

Akashi didn't quite agree with that however and with a smile, he slowly whispered, "Daiki, that was the wrong decision," before his sanguinary eyes flew open.

_Emperor Eye!_

…1-hit KO.

A strange silence shrouded the table as three of the renowned Generation of Miracles silently dined on their respective lunches. The last? Dead on the floor.

_During lunch, Aomine-kun and Midorima-kun will get into a fight again but this time, Aomine-kun will end up throwing Midorima-kun's lucky item…at Akashi-kun's head. The aftermath is quite apparent. You can save him if you want. _

Yet as Kuroko took one last glance at the aghast and heaven-bound figure of his partner, he acknowledged that there were some things that couldn't be changed, especially for invoking the wrath of Akashi.

With a sigh, he watched as the red-head wiped his hands with a handkerchief, as if washing away blood from a crime scene. However, the moment his eyes blankly swept towards Akashi's downward eyes, the flew up, those endless scarlet irises sharp and wry, reflecting into his.

Kuroko blinked.

"Tetsuya, how did you know that was going to happen?" Akashi questioned, voice crisp and clear.

"Aomine-kun looked as if he was about to throw it," Kuroko mechanically replied, knowing full-well that he was playing with fire.

"…I see," was Akashi's final reply as an outlandish smile quasi-danced on his lips. He seemed satisfied, Kuroko didn't know why.

Well, even if he didn't, that was fine. Knowing Akashi, unless the matter will somehow improve their chances at a perfect winning record, Akashi did not mind. That was the doctrine of Teiko and one none defied. Kuroko didn't either because winning…was everything. That was why, as he heard the sound of footsteps logging towards the table and slightly narrowed his eyes, Haizaki Shougo became a regular.

"Oh isn't this rare, that I see all four of you in the cafeteria for once," the low and somewhat aggravating drawl greeted as the four glanced up, Aomine immediately reviving, turning to the looming silver-haired figure before them.

_Unexpectedly Haizaki will join you all today and again, he will take a piece of your lunch. _

As if on cue, Haizaki picks out an octosausage from Kuroko's bento and downs it noisily.

"Oi, Haizaki, stop taking Tetsu's lunch!" Aomine scowled.

Akashi stayed silent, yet clearly, there was a wry look in his eyes as he released a small sigh.

"I don't really mind," Kuroko blankly stated. Instead, he was secretly glad that he wouldn't have to eat as much.

" There's no problem Daiki," Haizaki leered as he began to take more although once he touched Kuroko's tamagoyaki, a whiff of a frown flashed across the 6th man's face. Hmm, he actually liked that one.

"Haizaki, you're skipping practice quite often lately," Midorima scolded, finishing the last of his udon.

"Pfft!" The whisk grey-haired teen chortled, "Shintaro, there's nothing interesting other Daiki's girlfriend there, why would I?" He scoffed.

"Oi, she's not my girlfriend and stop leering at Satsuki already!" Aomine scowled, clearly not amused. Although Haizaki never tried anything on her yet, he wasn't gonna wait until something did.

"But Haizaki, you saw during last practice didn't you? That the new first-stringer has a similar style to yours." Midorima reminded.

Haizaki laughed. "Oi Shintaro, don't give me that, do you seriously think I'll have my position taken away?"

"But Kise-kun is quite talented," Kuroko quipped bluntly, causing Haizaki to slightly click his tongue, a frown obscuring his face.

"Oi Tetsuya, take my side for once won't you?" Haizaki prodded, leaning closer to the bluenette.

'No, I'll pass," Kuroko replied, "seeing as my tamagoyaki is gone."

Bemusement spread to his features. "Tamagoyaki? Are you seriously mad about that? Don't be so cheap Tetsuya," he coaxed although rather than coaxing, there was an aggravating tone in his voice, a teasing one filled with malice.

"Oi Haizaki, stop messing with Tetsu already, just hurry up and go, you're obviously not here to eat," Aomine sighed, finding him clearly tiring.

"Oh that's so cold Daiki, but…I'll take up your offer, I've got a date right now," he whistled, voice low to an almost predatory growl.

"Hah? How many times has it been already?" Aomine scoffed.

"Hey hey, don't be jealous now Daiki, besides you could probably get yourself laid pretty easily with Satsuki," Haizaki sniggered as he left the table, leaving Aomine with a disgusted frown.

"What the hell…" He scoffed before Kuroko glanced at him silently. In the end, that was simply who Haizaki Shougo was and although they as the Generation of Miracles had accepted that, it was still quite hard to stomach. Despite appearances, they still tried to tolerate him and try to come on at the very least, _neutral_ terms as he was undoubtedly a fundamental piece of the team. He did contribute heavily to _winning _after all and to Akashi that was enough.

Kuroko sighed. He wondered if this also had something to do with the ominous premonition written in the letter. If that was so, did it mean he had to save Haizaki at some point?

**[-]**

"AOMINECCHI! Why is someone like him on the team?!" Kise Ryouta demanded for the umpteenth time of the week as the first-stringers all crowded around the gym for their warm-up exercises.

"Oi, stop speaking badly of Tetsu already, and it's not like Tetsu isn't good, he's just on another level," Aomine replied simply, stretching his arms up in the air.

"Level -1000?!" Kise cried, clearly not satisfied.

Aomine shrugged, "well, in a sense you're right but still, Tetsu's amazing. Sooner or later you'll see but for now, get to work already," not bothering to defend or offend as he whacked the model in the back, prodding him forward while he himself walked over to the rest of the regulars.

"Ah Aominecchi! You said you'd play one-on-one with me today!" Kise protested.

"Hah? Like hell I can do that, Akashi's gonna kill me if I skip today's menu," Aomine waved, stalking away without another thought.

Watching him leave, Kise sighed in dejection. Although he finally made it as a first-stringer, there was still a huge difference between him and the regulars apparently dubbed, "the Generation of Miracles."

They had different schedules and sometimes different gym times even that he barely got to play with Aomine since his promotion. He was currently his reason for playing after all, the tanned ace was what had gotten Kise into basketball in the first place. Since Kise could copy any move after seeing it once, to him Aomine was like a storm, an aberration that defied all of Kise's logic with his free-willed, impossible to mimic plays.

Out of possibly everyone in the world, he was the one Kise admired the most but conversely said, he was the one he wanted to defeat the most.

If he was going to stand next to him, there was only one thing to do. A wonderfully near-seductive smirk spread across the model's lips.

He simply had to take that regular's jersey off one of their backs…and who to target first?

There was only one answer.

"Kise-kun?" A voice asked as a whiff of blue sprung up from his vision, his golden yellow irises trailing to a rather weak-looking youth clad in sports garb.

Obviously, he was going to aim for his spot, the "phantom 6th man".

….Wait wait wait!

"Ahh! When did you get here?!" Kise choked, the shock from the appearance of a blue-haired phantom finally settling in his brain.

"I was here quite a while ago Kise-kun. Anyways, the coach is calling us, Midorima-kun said we were to help the second-stringers with their game," Kuroko explained, expressionlessly motioning at the group of second-stringers by the door.

Kise blinked. "What?"

**[-]**

_Kise-kun is quite an interesting person. Despite being constantly in the spotlight, he is still quite honest and will easily ask for your jersey if he manages to beat you at scoring. You will become a bit nostalgic, comparing it to the time when you first joined the group and no one acknowledged you but that's why you find it fun. You aren't bothered, in fact you are glad, to be able to prove your worth once more._

Kuroko released a short sigh as his eyes scanned across the basketball court, filled with players from the both Teiko and their opponents: Yasuoka.

However, against the doctrine of Teiko, the scores on the scoreboard had a 15 point gap in the 3rd quarter and Teiko was currently lagging behind. Turning to Kise who was furiously attempting to break away from the double-teaming placed against him, Kuroko knew well that they were in the red zone. Even if Kise was a first-stringer and had a definite talent for basketball, he was lacking in experience, unable to think of a way to break through Yasuoka's tight guard.

Silently, he raised his hand.

"Teiko, member change!" hollered the referee as the phantom strode onto the court, towards a dumbfounded Kise.

In such a dire situation, him _being _on the court seemed to be the problem!

"Eh, Kuroko-kun why are y—"

"Kise-kun, please keep your eyes on the ball. We're a bit behind so make sure to keep up with me," Kuroko instructed, cutting off the confused model.

"Eh?" Kise gaped, not sure of how to process this.

A confident smile spread to his "personal" trainer's usually expressionless face. "I am a shadow so Kise-kun, this time you'll be my light. Play as you usually do and I guarantee that we will win." He stated simply as the whistle was blown and finally…the true "tip off" began.

_Swish! _The ball danced down the court, reappearing and disappearing at the blink of an eye as all members of the gym, including Kise stared aghast at the phantom ball.

"What?! Where is it coming from?!"

"Shoot!"

The spectators and players alike screamed as Kise slammed in ball after ball, utterly confused by what was happening.

Kise at this point however, knew. With his monstrous ability to analyze he realized quite quickly that the "phantom" ball was all caused by Kuroko, befitting for the name of the "Generation of Miracle's Phantom 6th Man." A smile cracked through the model's lips, now understanding why Aomine spoke so highly of him. With his natural lack of presence and small stature, he truly was a phantom, utilizing misdirection to steal and pass the ball at will!

"Okay! We're gonna win this!" Kise exclaimed, finally firing up…before instantly, he was kneed.

"OWW!" Kise practically screamed, body instinctively ducking to the ground.

Yet in that instant, he felt the swift and light swoop of a basketball sweep up against the nape of his neck and watch in horror as the big round entity whizzed past his head, slamming itself hard against the wall.

He winced at the sight, completely forgetting that he was kneed to the floor.

"Tch we missed, damn that first-stringer," Kise suddenly caught one of Yasuoka's players hiss causing the blond to narrow his eyes in distaste.

"Kise-kun, don't mind them, I'm glad you're all right," A sudden light voice spoke as Kise glanced up, meeting the deep azure irises of his trainer who promptly outstretched his hand.

Kise blinked, subconciously taking ahold of it. "Ah! You're the one that kneed me?!" Kise cried, recalling how the sensation felt strangely familiar.

Surprisingly he found his expressionless trainer scratch the side of cheek, hinting slight sheepishness as he muttered, "Ah I'm sorry but that was the only way I could make you duck in time."

Kise gaped, shocked that Kuroko somehow knew. Wait a minute did part of his "misdirection" technique include predicting the future?! Okay, there went his plans to copy it. "No I'm grateful, I don't think I would be alive if I got hit with that!" Kise beamed, completely concealing his inner thoughts.

His trained breathed a silent sight of relief before suddenly, a frown split into Kuroko's halcyon expression. His brows slightly knitted. "That wasn't very good of them and I don't think I'll forgive them for that." He muttered, voice barely audible as a strange yet somewhat murderous aura dripped from his figure.

Kise froze. Suddenly he was sweating bullets. "K-kuroko-kun?"

At the sound of his voice, Kuroko paused. He turned away from his reverie, azure meeting gold and with a perfectly flat yet murderous gaze, he muttered, "Kise-kun, can you stand? I think I'm going to go even harder on them now," tone darkening with every word until he literally turned into a "shadow".

Kise sweatdropped.

**[-]**

Stretching his arms up towards the sky, Kise Ryouta heaved out a yawn.

Finally, he was back at Teiko.

Although Kuroko already disappeared somewhere the moment they returned, Kise couldn't help but feel that he had just experienced something incredible, especially about that teamwork Kuroko had spoken to him about before the match.

Even though Kuroko knew that his place as a shadow wasn't flashy or spectacular as anyone else's, the fact that Kuroko continued down that path, for the sake of the team awestruck Kise. Being a person who basically had everything, Kise found that his sacrificial style was one of the most honorable he had ever seen.

With a smile on his face, Kise stared at the blue, blue sky. Before, it had always reminded him of Aomine but now, Kuroko was all that was on his mind. It was an amazing day. Kise hadn't felt so inspired in ages…but he knew what would make it the _best _day: playing against Aomine.

"Um, Midorimacchi! Do you know where Aominecchi went?" Kise asked, walking up to the verdant youth busying himself with shooting.

Midorima instantly choked upon his words, causing the ball the fly out of his hands, hitting the rim of the hoop before bouncing away.

"...! My perfect shooting record..." Midorima gaped before he whipped around, shooting dagger-like glares at the blond. "Oi, Kise who gave you permission to add a "cchi" to my name?" Midorima demanded darkly.

"Why not? Like I said, I'm adding it on since I respect you, anyways we're in the same year~" Kise grinned. "But anyways, do you know where Aominecchi went?" Kise urged a second time like an excited puppy.

Midorima sighed. Sadly, he was already quite used to people never bothering to listen to him ever since he joined the basketball team. The rest of the Generation of Miracles were all way too willful for their own good.

"Aomine went to the 4th string gym," he answered with lassitude. Well, clearly bothering to reason with the blond seemed to be a waste of time so getting it over with seemed to be the best plan.

"Oh really? Thanks Midorimacchi!" Kise beamed and instantly dashed off.

"Oi, stop calling me that!" Midorima hollered out of impulse.

"No can do~" Kise grinned, instantly leaving the gym.

As he thought, the Generation of Miracles were all fascinating people, especially since despite reprimanding him with such conviction, Midorima Shintarou had a rose pinned to his training uniform. It took all of Kise's efforts to stop him stomach muscles from imploding, doubling over with laughter at the sight.

Kise released a slight laugh. Hmm, when was the last time he had this much fun?

Nearing the 4th gym, Kise heard Aomine's low and rough chuckle resound outside of the opened gym door.

He beamed.

"Aominec-"

Kise froze.

It was as if he had entered God's domain.

"Oww Tetsu that hurts! What kind of pass was that?!" Aomine demanded, throwing the ball back at a placid boy with powder blue hair.

"Well, if anyone could catch it easily then it would be troublesome wouldn't it?" Kise heard the boy retort.

"What good is it gonna do if it breaks mine?!"

It was a simple scene of two friends laughing, one that Kise had seen many times before.

But...that smile on Aomine's face, that hint of joy hidden behind the usually expressionless Kuroko's eyes... he felt as if they were in their own world, in a world no one else could enter—in God's domain.

He didn't fit anywhere.

Yet instead of feeling despondent, a smirk wormed its way up his pretty face as he backed away from the gym door, slinking down towards the ground.

Getting along with others was something he did well, obtaining what he wanted was also something he did well.

But, as expected of both Aomine and Kuroko. They were the two things he finally wasn't able to obtain. Aomine's style, Kuroko's misdirection, he doubted he would ever be able to copy either any time soon but along with that, the friendship the two shared…he doubted he would ever be able to step in.

However, he didn't feel hurt in fact, that to him was what made it fun. The moves he couldn't copy, the people he couldn't touch, ever since he joined the basketball team, he had always felt these uncertainties, these irregularities, and the excitement that came along. To him who thought he had everything, it was as if his world had opened up, colors of powder blue and navy blue dyeing it in beautiful arrays.

Really, he never felt so alive.

He stared at the dusk-ridden sky, a beautiful smile dancing in his gorgeous sunlit yellow eyes.

"Ahh, I'm glad I joined basketball." He smirked before retreating back to the school building.

* * *

**Owari.**

**Thank you for sticking around!**

**Please tell me if you have any feedback, especially about the way I portrayed Kise in this (since looking back at the flashbacks, I, being a Kise fan myself had to admit that he was pretty cocky back then :P)**

**Luckily, this is only the beginning, Kise's arc isn't over, there's a LOT more as you can see with the addition of Haizaki ;) **

**However for now, we'll move on to...the future XD  
**

**Preview:**

**An Inkling of Tears-**The next day, there is no letter. Kuroko finds this all so strange yet after many encounters that occur in the day, Kuroko eventually figures out the trick. The next day...he finds something absolutely shocking in his shoebox and suddenly, the gears of fate truly begin to turn as the boy finds himself on a path to which he can no longer look back. How can he? Especially after seeing _that._

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**_  
_


	3. Entry 3: An Inkling of Tears

**A/N:** I'm terribly sorry for the late update. Now that it's the final week of school, so many things were occuring that I could only manage to write snippets at a time for this chapter.

**However, thank you so much for all the support you've all given me, especially with the follows, favs, and most of all: the reviews! I'm glad I was able to receive so much feedback and hope I'll be able to continue to do so as this story progresses!**

* * *

**Entry 3: An Inkling of Tears**

It wasn't there. As Kuroko sat at the edge of the rooftop, comfortably leaning against its slightly rattling nets that echoed with the wind, he recalled the sight of his empty shoe locker, devoid of anything but his indoor shoes.

A slight frown tinged his features. Kuroko had to admit he felt some degree of disappointment.

By this time, he knew fairly well that the letter was real. Everything depicted in it had come true however, he wondered if the intentions of the letter were as it had stated.

Despite asking him to "save" the Generation of Miracles, it never gave him any instructions. Instead, it was as if it was telling him to choose for himself and that clearly contrasted its serious tone. If it truly wanted him to save them then the tone should've been more demanding, especially if it was something he himself had deemed to be crucial enough to actually try and change the past for. That simply didn't add up…unless perhaps it was testing him.

Yet while pondering this mystery, he faintly captured the sound of footsteps ascending the stairway that led to his secret rooftop sanctuary. Not many people knew that past the clusters of half-broken desks and chairs that cluttered themselves a strangely placed gap between two classrooms, there would be a set of stairs that led to the rooftop.

It was rare to see visitors yet, once the door clicked and swung open, revealing a bespectacled Teiko student without a single crease in his uniform, Kuroko deadpanned, "Midorima-kun, do you happen to be a stalker now?"

Midorima Shintaro promptly shut the door.

"…"

Silence.

A gust of wind flew by.

Yet Kuroko only sat there, patiently waiting. He didn't need those letters to know what was coming next.

"Uwahh~ Mido-chin was called a stalker~" The lazy yet light tease of Murasakibara suddenly exclaimed as the door swung open once more, allowing the purple giant to somehow squeeze through its doors.

"I'm not a stalker!" Midorima defended angrily as he stepped up from the stairs, returning to the rooftop. "Besides, if you really want to compare stalking then it would obviously be A—" Surprisingly, he abruptly ended his own sentence as if catching himself from committing a terrible sin before slowly and surely, his emerald orbs swept down-to the third member of their group.

"Yes Shintaro? Why did you suddenly stop? Who were you about to say was the real stalker? Do continue," The even yet evidently murderous voice of a certain captain asked, scarlet eyes flashing dangerously at the almost 20cm taller youth.

Midorima flinched at the sight. He had enough common sense to know that saying anything in this situation was suicidal.

"Akashi-kun, please stop teasing Midorima-kun," Kuroko suddenly voiced, deciding to save the adolescent from his brush with death.

Akashi slightly smiled. "Oh? Even though you were the instigator first?"

"I was simply stating the truth," Kuroko swiftly replied.

"Oi!" Midorima interjected, seething with rage. Why did he have to be labeled a stalker?! Besides, it was clearly Akashi's idea to eat on the rooftop in the first place!

"Ah~ Who cares about that? More than that, I'm glad we found you Kuro-chin~ I needed help with something," Murasakibara drawled, without bothering to even consider the situation as he languidly ran over to Kuroko.

"What do you mean who cares?!" Midorima demanded, appalled by his fellow teammate's lack of conscience towards others.

Of course, he was ignored.

"Ah, what is it?" Kuroko asked once the giant was within 2 meters away.

"Well Kuro-chin~ You're good at literature right? Apparently the teacher said that if would properly write a reply to my pen-pal from America he would give me candy," Murasakibara explained.

Kuroko stared at him blankly. "Hah…so Kogawa-sensei has resorted to bribing now…" he murmured to himself, turning inward and feeling slightly sympathetic for the man. Although Murasakibara might've been smart, in fact, considering his aptitude for basketball he should've been smart, he simply didn't care for academics in any way. However technically, Kuroko was not one to speak.

"Um Murasakibara-kun, I would like to help but I don't think I'll be much help." Kuroko flatly replied, rejecting his pleas.

"Eh? Why~?" The giant demanded, pouting from the unexpected reply.

"Well, Kogawa-sensei is an _English_ teacher and English and Literature are two completely different subjects. In fact, instead of asking me, I believe Midorima-kun and Akashi-kun would be of more help." Kuroko explained.

Midorima pushed up his glasses haughtily. "Hmph, unfortunately for you I don't plan on helping you with your prob—Oi!"

Ironically enough, Murasakibara didn't even give the youth a sparing glance and directly ran to Akashi.

Akashi gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry Atsushi but I don't believe I can today. In fact, I'll be leaving in a few minutes for a meeting. I'm afraid you'll have to complete it another time," he explained and Murasakibara's face deflated.

"Aka-chin too? Ah, then what do I do~? I won't be able to get that limited edition Umaibo from Kogawa-sensei~" Murasakibara whined, completely dismissing this growing aura of rage that enveloped a certain verdant youth.

"Oi…I've had enough of this farce! You lot are clearly underestimating me aren't you?!" Midorima demanded with an evident scowl.

The trio feigned apathy.

Midorima blew. "Come Murasakibara and give me that sheet! I'll make sure to make you regret looking down on me!" Midorima declared before surprisingly, the giant acquiescently complied.

As Midorima began his rant-lecture on English, Kuroko promptly shot a look at his captain. Akashi glanced back at the phantom player expressionlessly.

It was as if a telepathic message had been sent.

The two suddenly sighed simultaneously.

Midorima was way too easy to fool...and by the hands of Murasakibara no less.

See? He was smart...although for the wrong reasons. Unless it was with him or Akashi, Murasakibara's aloof personality always had a way of bending the wills of others around him. He was quite a lethal weapon, both in and outside the court.

Of course, whether the giant knew it himself or not was another story altogether. They do say that "children" have a way of worming their way into the hearts of others.

"Murasakibara, what are you even planning on writing in here?" Midorima asked, completely willed by the oversized child as the two huddled themselves into a corner of the rooftop, one with pen in hand and the other with a pack of chips.

Kuroko eyed them blankly as he snacked upon his tuna sandwich before he glanced over to his right. There, Akashi Seijuro was nonchalantly eating his own bento, completely dismissing the ruckus being caused only a few meters away.

Of course, he wasn't the only one dismissing something. As Kuroko stared back at the duo, he wondered if they had forgotten that Akashi was supposedly leaving for a "meeting".

Well, he thought it was for the best to not say anything.

"Eh? What I'm planning on writing? Hmm, anything's fine I guess~?" Murasakibara mumbled lazily, already losing concentration.

"Oi there's no way that's fine! Your pen pal wrote down all these things here! You have to at least match that!" Midorima scolded.

"Eh? But they wrote so much stuff…I don't want to reply to all that!" The purple giant complained.

Midorima sighed, deeming him beyond salvation. "Murasakibara, I'll only ask this. Why are such letters written?"

"…For the limited edition Umaibo?"

Midorima twitched. "….I don't even know where to begin with that answer but NO! Obviously these letters are written because the sender wants a reply!"

A pair of cerulean blue eyes blinked curiously.

Kuroko stood up.

"Tetsuya?" Akashi asked as the phantom player began packing up his things.

"Eh? Kuroko?" Midorima quipped, noticing Kuroko's sudden actions.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'll have to excuse myself. It seems I've forgotten something important," Kuroko bowed, swiftly heading for the stairs before he suddenly stopped and turned. "Oh and thank you Midorima-kun, you've helped me greatly." He said before he disappeared down the stairs.

"Oi Kuroko?!" Midorima called after him but it was no use. Kuroko was long gone.

"Hmm...it seems Tetsuya has been hiding something from us," Akashi suddenly voiced, analyzing the spot where his 6th man disappeared from.

"Kuroko has?!" Midorima demanded before newfound confusion furrowed his brows. "Wait...Akashi, weren't you supposed to be at that meeting?"

"..."

[=]

Letters expecting a reply. Truth to be told, Kuroko didn't quite think of that possibility because well firstly, it didn't seem possible to be receiving letters from the future in the first place, much less sending them back but, it did seem as if it was worth a try. Besides, Kuroko did recall quite clearly that there was a blank page left in the back of the letters. Logically speaking that did seem plausible, especially if his future self was trying to make sure that the letters were properly received by him.

Taking ahold of a blue ballpoint, Kuroko began writing, writing down everything he could on that small sheet in which once filled, encompassed all the questions he had for his future self. Yet, even he didn't expect the reply he received.

The next morning, amongst the boisterous crowd of students walking past the shoe lockers, Kuroko silently pulled open his own locker's door. Sure enough, there was a letter in the form of a manila envelope.

Kuroko smiled however, once he pulled its contents out, his smile literally deflated.

How could he possibly smile? After all...there were tears on the neatly typed slip of paper.

To be exact, rather than tears, the letter was wet with traces of water blotched on it. However, they were too small to have come from the rain and too little to have been on purpose.

They were real tears...from his future self?

Kuroko was quite sure that he had never cried. Keeping his emotions in check was something he had completely mastered, especially with that naturally blank face of his but that only made things worse. By merely seeing that, half his questions were answered. Whatever happened in the future was horrible, terrible, to make his future self's composure crash immediately after writing out a reply.

_Thank you for replying._

_It seem[s] that I've [sent] it to the righ[t] [person] after all. Really, [thank you.]_

The teardrops were gathered around that sentence in particular.

_ However, already, I'll have to begin...because very soon, Kise Ryouta will be in danger._

Kuroko blinked. The new first-stringer? It's only been a few days since he joined. Why would he be...unless ah, so in the future, Kise Ryouta really does become a regular.

_In the future, no in fact, in less than a month, Kise-kun will become a regular and yes, it's as you have guessed. He'll be replacing one of the current "Generation of Miracles". This will definitely be a turning point for the team as a whole but, that is something for another time. Right now, Kise-kun is changing, changing from who he was before. However, because of this, things can go either way. You'll definitely be able to help him as long as you keep in mind of these three things:_

_You must never place anything in this locker other than letters._

_On April 30th you must go to the infirmary 15 minutes after basketball practice ends. Preferably alone._

_On the same day, you must not go near the 4th gym no matter what._

_As long as you follow these three rules, things should be fine._

Following tts words, Kuroko took out his indoor shoes and slipped them on. He could always store his shoes in the first-stringer gym which was luckily attached to the main school building. However, once he took the shoes out, he found something interesting in the back of his shoe locker. Hidden behind his shoes was another envelope, this time a lot thicker and taped to the back. Ripping off the tape, Kuroko promptly rummaged through it's contents, again, surprised by his findings.

He sweatdropped. This...was a not yet in store iPhone wasn't it? In fact, unlike the designs his mother had once shown him, it was in the shape of a square.

...What version was this?

Yet, along with this discovery, there was clearly something odd going on here. If his future self sent over a not-yet-developed phone for him then...apparently, the future was well-deveoped enough to be able to send text messages to the past.

However...was that really possible?

[=]

"Kurokocchi~!" The effervescent voice of a certain blonde model exclaimed before Kuroko was inevitable created by a bouncing ball of joy.

"Good afternoon Kise-kun. Although, I would like to ask of you to refrain from adding the "cchi" to my name." Kuroko greeted quite calmly and politely.

"Ah! That's so mean Kurokocchi! I've already told you so many times that I call you that because I respect you!" Kise exclaimed as the duo strode down the hallway.

Due to Akashi and the coach's constant manipulation of the sports faculty, the basketball members practically had the gym to themselves throughout the year. However, part of the deal was that depending on the season, every twice-in-a week, a different sports team would have permission to use the gym, making it a great day for the basketball players to be able to go home early for once. Although even so, Kuroko did not expect to have Kise dashing up towards him right after class had ended.

Really, after the match against Yasuaoka, Kise's attitude towards the youth had literally turned a 180. Although Kuroko was glad that the rather blatant hostility was gone, he wasn't quite fond of the idea of him clinging onto him. Besides, as his eyes darted left and right to the amazed stares of the Teiko female population, he knew he was standing out way too much for his own good.

"Ah, see you at school tomorrow Kise-kun!" A passing girl suddenly greeted in a shy, flushed manner.

"Oh, see you~" Kise waved, flashing a blinding grin as the girl instantly blazed red in embarrassment and ran off, her group of friends giggling with her.

"Oh Kise, you wanna come with us to a goukon?" Another asked, this time a well-built male probably from the baseball team.

"Ehh? I'd love to but I can't today~ I have modelling later on," Kise apologized. "Maybe next time~" He waved, prodding along Kuroko's pace although even he was surprised that no one even seemed to notice the bluenette throughout the whole ordeal.

"Kurokocchi, aren't you mad from being ignored?" Kise suddenly asked after about the 20th student passed by and waved "hi" to him which was reciprocated by a grandiose smile that sent millions of fangirls to their knees. Considering how the hallway wasn't quite long in the first place, that was an amazing feat.

The bluenette however, only looked up at him blankly as they turned, about to head down the stairs. "No, not particularily in fact, I'm not sure about mad but if anyone's bothered, isn't it you Kise-kun?" Kuroko voiced, causing Kise to freeze while Kuroko already happened to be 4 steps below him.

"Eh?" Kise breathed, surprised by this turn of events. He was the bothered one?

"Well, while you were talking to them, your feet weren't pointing towards them as someone would, even for a fraction of a second, if they wanted to engage in a conversation." Kuroko voiced.

Kise blinked. "Eh?" Wait, what was happening here?! What was this about feet now?!

Kuroko seemed to notice that and promptly excused himself. "Oh I'm sorry about that," he expressed...expressionlessly. "But that just now was something called psychoanalysis: where you analyze a person's thoughts and emotions based on their subconscious actions."

"Psychoanalysis...? Ah wait! I saw that in a movie once! Why would you know about that Kurokocchi?" Kise asked, getting back into his rhythmn.

"Well, as you've already seen my abilities as a basketball player is to become a "phantom" and to utilize this to its full extent, being able to perform simple acts of psychoanalysis is what I ended up picking up from Akashi-kun." Kuroko explained.

"Eh? Then...if I learn this I would also be able to copy Kurokocchi's ability?!" Kise exclaimed.

"I wouldn't be sure about that, although that would be quite troublesome for me," Kuroko flatly replied, causing Kise to slightly grin.

Once again, Kuroko never failed to amaze him. He was the first person Kise had ever met to speak with such honesty, to the point where he would willingly admit his own weaknesses without a care in the world. Kise wasn't capable of that, not by a long shot.

"However Kise-kun, continuing on with what I just said, there's one final thing about what you did that was strange."

"R-really?" Kise blurted, getting caught off guard when all of a sudden, Kuroko's usually dull eyes seemed to waxen.

"Kise-kun, I think you force yourself a bit too hard sometimes. It's good to try and be nice to everyone but...I don't feel that there's a point if when you smile, your smile is completely fake. Your eyes never smile, Kise-kun," Kuroko blandly noted.

At his words however, ever so slightly, Kise smiled...but it was a different kind of smile: one layered with bittersweet sadness.

"Then I should probably learn a bit of psychoanalysis too...especially since Kurokocchi is way too sharp. Was it that easy to tell?" Kise asked with a sheepish grin, stopping and leaning on the windowsill by the stairway.

"Apparently so." Kuroko voiced.

"Heh then that's pretty bad for me because sadly, smiling and being kind to everyone is part of my job description," Kise sighed. "I have to be nice to everyone. Besides, isn't that a better way to live?"

Kuroko slightly furrowed his brow at that. In his ears, it sounded as if Kise was giving himself and excuse. "...Is that so? I didn't quite believe so when Kise-kun was complaining about me to Aomine-kun," he replied, clearly referring to the events that occured but a day ago.

The blond model whipped around in shock, eyes bulging at his words.

"Eh?! Wait Kurokocc-"

"Then how about the time when yo-"

"No don't say it Kurokocchi!"

"Comple-"

"Ahhh! stop stop stop!" Kise cried in desperation, about to die from shame while lunging at the boy for him to stop.

Of course Kuroko foresaw this and dodged while Kise painfully flew to the other side of the wall, his money-making face smacking right into its painted surface.

"Oww! You're so mean Kurokocchi! Don't remind me of that! That was so embarrassing!" Kise cried, getting up and rubbing his head in pain. He couldn't believe he said that before and only became more flustered by the recollection.

Kuroko only blinked, giving him another of his soul-wringing stares. "Really? But I didn't find that embarrassing at all. You were merely being honest weren't you?"

The blond's golden irises widened in surprise. He didn't expect that, he thought Kuroko was mad at him. Very mad. Yet, the conviction behind Kuroko's words made the boy think...probably a lot more than he ever cared to in school.

He blinked back into those bottomless blue orbs. It was true, when he said those words, for once he was being completely honest with his feelings.

"See, Kise-kun, you can be honest, in fact, I prefer it when you're honest. You're no longer crushing yourself under the expectations of others." Kuroko voiced.

It took Kise a few moments to register his words but when he did, even he, the model that smiled for everyone, could no longer hide his shock, in fact, his jaw dropped, revealing a side a tad less attractive that usual. "E-eh? B-but is that okay? I mean, I said some horrible things to you Kurokocchi!" Kise cried. Someone was accepting him even after seeing his bad side?

"Of course. I didn't mind at all. In fact, I was quite glad you said that because when you did, you stopped being fake."

"Kurokocchi..." Kise mumbled, touched and at a loss for words. No one ever said that to him. He always had to become someone he wasn't and really, now that he thought about it, he didn't even know why. He sniffed. "KUROKOCC-"

"I think Aomine-kun feels the same way."

Kise instantly deflated. Why?! Why did he have to mention Aomine here?!

"Aomine-kun told me, that your basketball is very honest, it's like a whirlwind of emotions and he quite likes it." Kuroko concluded.

Kise blinked at this. So Aomine too...? He released a curt smile. Ah, he was really glad that he joined basketball. For the past few days, that was the only thing on his mind. Not only did he meet such amazing people, for such amazing people to accept him too, it was beyond what he could ever hope for.

However...there was something slightly unsatisfying.

"Eh? Kurokocchi! Why is it always Aominecchi? You even have to mention him when you're with me! You're really crushing me here!" Kise complained before he latched himself onto the boy.

"...Hah...please stop fooling around Kise-kun," Kuroko voiced frankly.

"I'm not! I'm completely honest! See, my feet are facing towards you and my eyes are smiling!" Kise cried, using Kuroko's psychoanalysis against him.

Kuroko sighed...before smiling at the remark. It seems he ended up with another handful in his hands. However, never once did he ever believe that the handfuls known as the "Generation of Miracles" were malicious things. Instead, he was glad that met them, every one of them and as he glanced out the windowsill out into the vast blue sky, momentarily he wished that these days would continue forever.

The energetic Aomine with his infinite passion towards basketball, the kind, caring, and patient Momoi, the fast-growing Kise who as bright as the sun, the ever-tsundere Midorima, the childish and appalling Murasakibara, the somewhat kind and charismatic Akashi, and even the over-bearing Haizaki were a joy to have around. All of these people were a part of his world now and really, despite the constant arguing amongst them, Kuroko wouldn't have it any other way.

This was _his _team because when they came together, basketball became the best sport in the world. He never had so much fun playing it before until he met them.

Yet...there was something he didn't even think to consider at the time.

What did he value more?

Was it them...or basketball?

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, I'm done, I'm seriously done. I have no idea why this Kise arc is turning out to be so long. I blame chapter 195. I COMPLETELY blame that chapter for my newfound Kise feels =w=

But in any case, thank you for reading this all the way through!

** Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**Preview!**

**The Lingering Lie-**After everything, Kise becomes much more honest and generally meshes well with the Generation of Miracles. However, it may have been because of that that he decides to shoulder everything himself. After school he heads to the 4th gym alone. Kuroko sees it happen; he clearly knows something is wrong but...he would breaking one of the "rules" if he went over to the 4th gym...right?


	4. Entry 4: The Lingering Lie

Well...I was supposed to update Inseparable Bonds before this one first but, due to my overflowing Kise feels, I just had to post this chapter up XP

But sorry for the late update!

**In any case, thank you very much _Rasielis, , hiyomi, meep615, heaven's fall, Monochromer, SunnyHazzelL0325, rainnie, Shirotsuki, kurosushi123, Qir, haruhiandkyon, XxAlysxX, shinbei, Kitty, Crazyanime21, hitomi65, , Paradiseblue, and Muracchi_ for the reviews! **

**I am also very grateful for the follows and favs I received! I'm glad all of you like this story and am very thankful to you guys for giving so much motivation!**

* * *

**Entry 4: The Lingering Lie**

The moment Kuroko stepped into the school halls was when a wave of chaos annihilated his peace. It was fairly early in the morning, in fact, there was still half an hour left until the warning bell yet already, the school was bustling with crowds preparing for the imminent school festival.

Ambling down towards his own classroom, Kuroko felt a mixture of both excitement and disappointment settle within him. Although he definitely was excited for the festival, he was disappointed that practices were cancelled until during the final week of preparations. Counting today, there were only 2 practices left but, on the other hand, that last practice…would be on the 30th.

Kuroko slightly narrowed his round oval pupils.

_On April 30th you must go to the infirmary 15 minutes after basketball practice ends. Preferably alone._

"Ah, Tetsu-kun! Good morning!" A high-pitched voice greeted as Kuroko turned around to find a pink-haired girl with a huge lovestruck grin on her face and a somewhat irritated overly tanned male grumbling, "Augh, did you really have to drag me out so early in the morning?" before releasing a loud yawn.

"Ah, good morning Aomine-kun, Momoi-san," Kuroko returned, giving the two a quick nod.

"Yo, Tetsu," Aomine greeted back lazily, his sour mood improved by the grin on his face before he slung his arm around the boy. "But oi, do you want to change our practice location to the streets? The gym being closed off for the festival and all," Aomine prompted, again basketball being the only thing on his mind.

"Eh?! Wait a minute Aomine-kun! That means you're going to be ditching festival preparations aren't you?! I already said you can't!" Momoi reprimanded angrily.

"Ah? Does that matter that much? I didn't even do much last year in the first place," Aomine sighed, brushing her off.

"That's no good Aomine-kun, Momoi-san's right. Besides, I'm actually looking forward to this year's festival," Kuroko added.

Aomine scowled. "Hah? You too Tetsu?" He was obviously unhappy with this outcome.

Kuroko's gaze didn't waver. "Well, of course. We're finally in the same class this year and the cultural festival only comes around once per year. It would be a waste if we don't enjoy it together," he stated expressionlessly but that was all it took for Momoi to accumulate sparkles in her eyes and Aomine to drop his jaw in shock.

"Ahh Tetsu-kun!" Momoi squealed, unable to control herself as she latched onto the boy, completely touched by his words.

"Momoi-san, you're crushing me," Kuroko expressed for the umpteenth time this had occurred.

Aomine on the other hand, was still a deer in headlights. Man, Kuroko could always say such embarrassing things without a second thought. But in truth, he was touched as well. "Pfft." He smirked as the duo glanced back at him. "Ah, ah, I completely forgot about that." Aomine sighed in defeat. "You're right Tetsu, who knows, next year we may not be as lucky so I guess, it's not bad to work on the festival stuff this year." Aomine concluded with a light smirk.

Kuroko smiled. "Thank you Aomine-kun."

Aomine only waved him off as he cupped both arms around his neck, turning around and started walking towards their classroom.

"Ah, Aomine-kun! Come back here! You should properly reply to Tetsu-kun!" Momoi pouted at his retreating figure.

"It's okay Momoi-san. It's Aomine-kun's way of being shy after all," Kuroko reminded…_loudly._

"Hah?! Oi Tetsu you little—" Aomine scowled, instantly whipping around when all of a sudden, he smacked painfully into something.

There was a loud thud.

It wasn't Aomine however.

"Ow!" Aomine yelped, wincing at the pain that had contacted his jaw.

"Are you okay?" He heard Kuroko ask with a hint of worry.

The swarthy teen rubbed his jaw. "Oh no I'm fin—hey oi! You're not even worried!" Aomine gaped the moment he opened his eyes to find both Momoi and Kuroko surrounding a male that had fallen to the floor with a janitor cap obscuring his face.

"Of course, Aomine-kun's very sturdy after all." Kuroko expressed, giving him only a sparing glance before helping the janitor up.

Aomine scowled. "Oi, shouldn't I at least deserve the sentiment?!"

The bluenette however, completely ignored him and was instead apologizing for his "friend's" carelessness.

Not surprisingly, Momoi did the same, leaving her childhood friend twitching with rage.

"No I'm okay, I'm actually quite used to this," the janitor smiled, pushing down his cap further, towering at least 10 centimeters taller than the two once he rose to full height.

Kuroko blinked. His voice sounded fine yet he was wearing a sick mask that covered most of his face.

"Well, I'd better get going now, but oh, you're the class representative for class 2-A right?" The janitor suddenly asked, turning to Momoi.

"E-eh? Ah yes!" Momoi cried, slightly startled by his sudden inquiry.

"Then please send someone to the janitor's room after you've submitted the outline for your class' booth. I'll need to know in order to bring the appropriate cleaning materials for you all," he requested politely, reminding them that at school festivals, clean-up duty belonged to the students alone and the school would only provide the necessary supplies.

However, this is where Teiko deviated from regular schools. Normally Japanese schools don't employ janitors but rather have their own students clean their schools. Teiko on the other hand slightly differed by having janitors to clean up certain aspects of the school, with more pertaining to gardening that janitorial work.

"Okay I understand," Momoi confirmed, now getting back into her professional groove.

The janitor smiled. "Okay, I'm counting on you," he said before he left, striding down the hallway with a curt wave.

Yet, although normally the trio would've instantly resumed conversation they only stared at his passing figure.

"Huh, well that was strange," the trio suddenly murmured...in unison.

They blinked, darting to each other at various degrees of surprise before Momoi instantly turned beet red for some unknown reason, Aomine frowned for some other, and Kuroko decided to revert to his deadfish poker face.

However, despite their beyond strange interactions, neither of them said a thing to each other.

The only thing they did know…was that they were ready to take whatever that swam across their minds to their graves.

**[=]**

The intoxicating scent of floor polish, the constant pounding rhythm of the ball, and the sharp sound of squeaking from shoes against floor lit an insatiable passion within Kise Ryouta as he pounded down the court with alarming speed.

"Like I'll let you!" A voice, belonging to a fellow first-stringer cried as he attempted to block the golden-haired youth.

Sadly, Kise easily performed a crossover he copied the other day and broke past him, ending their little one-on-one with a powerful dunk.

Kise smirked. Him being able to break past the male was obvious but still, he couldn't help but shoot a secretive glance over to where Kuroko and the other regulars stood, watching his match.

Unfortunately, he immediately despaired when he saw both Kuroko and Aomine with their backs towards him, knelt down behind the benches as if inspecting something.

Whyyy….why?! Just when he finally showed his cool side!

However, at that moment, he felt the presence of two pairs of eyes settling on him and immediately brightened again in joy. Yes, they finally turned…or so that was what he believed until he glanced back, only to meet Murasakibara Atsushi and the increasingly intimidating Akashi Seijuro.

A thundering chill swept down his spine, especially when he was unfortunate enough to have his golden irises meet red…which was probably an indirect reference to imminent bloodshed. Truthfully, he should've been glad that the infamous captain of the basketball team was giving him the time of day but there was just something about his stare that actually made him of all people feel pressurized.

"Atsushi, do you actually have any interest in that first-stringer?" Akashi asked from the sidelines.

"Eh? No, not really. Akachin is staring at him so I thought I should join in too," Murasakibara answered as if it was a completely natural thing to do.

If Midorima were here, he'd definitely start snapping at him but Akashi only sighed…before a smirk settled on his lips. "Well, I don't mind, in fact, that's alright Atsushi because very soon…you will be."

Murasakibara glanced down at his captain, a striking red enveloping his vision.

"Atsushi, you can feel it right? His potential," Akashi simpered without turning back.

His purple-haired comrade slightly narrowed his eyes. Well, it was definitely true, even he could no longer ignore the signals he received from the metaphoric antennae that located others like him: the talented…but wait.

"Umm Akachin, who was he again?" Murasakibara mumbled after realizing he couldn't recall the boy's name.

There was a sudden pause.

"Atsushi…he's Kise Ryouta, a member of 2-C," Akashi replied after a strange silence.

"Oh…a member of 2-C, Murasakibara repeated although, due to the opening of yet another pack of snacks, his attention was already diverged.

"Murasakibara-kun," suddenly the dull tone of a male resounded beside him as he turned over, noticing a tuft of powder blue hair.

"Oh Kuro-chin," Murasakibara greeted lazily, possibly too indolent to scream as one would usually do when they caught whiff of the "phantom".

"Murasakibara-kun, 2-C is your class remember? Kise-kun's been in your class since the beginning of the year." Kuroko reminded flatly.

The purple giant blinked, amethyst eyes widening.

"Oh…was that so?"

"…Yes, that is so." Kuroko affirmed in monotone, wondering how he _wouldn't_ know his classmate that had girls scrambling for him at any given period of the day.

"Exactly." Akashi suddenly quipped, strikingly sharp voice instantly capturing their attention. "Therefore Atsushi, a proper introduction would be perfunctory correct?" he smiled and easily, as if his words were law (which they were), Murasakibara became officially acquainted with the first-stringer through an introduction provided by Akashi after practice.

Unfortunately fortunate, the blond became more intimately connected to his captain after he found out of the blond's habit of addressing those he acknowledged with a "cchi" yet still _daring _to call the red-head "Akashi-kun". Of course, Murasakibara joined in on the fray of severe intimidation, using his overwhelming height as a backdrop for his captain, and thus the two became dubbed "Akashicchi" and "Murasakicchi" respectively.

Kuroko played bystander this time, staring at the trio from the benches with a letter in hand.

_To fasten the pace of getting Kise-kun to become a regular, please ask Midorima-kun to tell Akashi-kun and to come to the benches saying that you had something important to tell him._

_ Then, please stall as much time as possible so that he will stay. If this step is properly completed, Akashi-kun will naturally turn to the practice match while waiting and the Kise-kun, who will be performing a newly learned move, will surely catch his eye enough for him to give an official introduction._

A ghost of a smile emerged from Kuroko's face.

Just as it instructed, Kuroko called him over with an excuse to inform him of a defecting equipment piece. Then by offering to first examine it with Aomine, he was able to stall plenty of time for Akashi to take a sparing glance at the practice matches. Well, Murasakibara joining the mix was something unprecedented but overall, the plan worked fine as usual.

"Oi Tetsu, are you coming?" Kuroko suddenly heard Aomine call from behind him, leaning against the door, clad in his uniform as the afternoon sun streamed in on Aomine's figure, illuminating his sun-ravished skin into a nice sun-kissed tan.

Kuroko slung his bag over his shoulders. Again, a smile lit up his features.

"Yes, but Aomine-kun, remember that you promised me a vanilla shake," he reminded as he strode to the side of his partner.

"Geh. Fine, let's stop by Maji Burger on our way back."

Kuroko smiled.

"Yes."

**[=]**

The following day, the boy entered the school, a flurry of chattering passing his way as he headed to the shoe lockers.

Sliding the door of his locker open, he noticed a stack of letters stuffing it full, adorned in colorful arrays of pink, red, and purple. In nonchalance, he collected all the letters, one by one, into a neat pile on his spare arm before sorting through them as if through one's Monday mail.

It was for insurance. From time to time, there would be one with a nail stuck on it and stuffing something like that into his bag wasn't every pleasant, especially when he had to rummage through its disorganized contents for his barely touched notes.

However, instead of catching a nail, he caught a white letter that deviated from the rest. Placing the rest back into his bag to take home (it would've been rude otherwise), the male flipped open the envelope and swiftly browsed its contents.

This time, he crumpled it up and threw, allowing it to gallantly land in a trash can about a meter away.

**[=]**

The appointed day arrived unceremoniously. The 30th had nothing particularly special to distinguish it as Kuroko reached into the depths of his knapsack, taking a hold of the letters he had carefully stored away in a less than visible compartment when his hand brushed against something hard and rectangular.

The boy blinked as he pulled it through, recalling something else of dire importance. It was the iPhone…er 4s.

However, despite being fascinated by its golden-ratioed frame and supreme capabilities, its function as a phone was lacking. Instead, someone tinkered with its system in a way that its only function was to receive and send messages to one recipient: _Phantom_.

It was a strange name to be enlisted under...well, at least that meant he was still thriving well enough as the Phantom 6th man in the future.

He promptly tapped open the message screen.

**To: [黒子 テツヤ]**

**From: [Phantom]**

**_To the me of the past,_**

**_I hope that you've received this in one piece._**

**_As I did not have much time, I had to make do with this model._**

…There was an even better version?

**_And as you have guessed, this is a bit of insurance in case irregularities occur. However, please continue to write letters back as some messages may not reach the future. To avoid repetition, please keep questions and information regarding the phone separate from the letters and only use this phone if you require direct assistance when a problem arises at the time._**

**[END]**

The message attached to the phone when he came across it was soundly logical. It seems his future self really did think of everything, asking him to direct immediate emergencies to the phone and asking him to summarize the events of the week back in his letters.

However, although he did sent a question asking what will happen on the 30th, he never received a reply.

The phone stayed dead silent.

"Kuroko, are you ready yet?" A looming figure asked as Kuroko glanced up.

"Midorima-kun, yes. Just to confirm, the new equipment is in the 2nd gym's storage shed right?" Kuroko affirmed blankly as he inconspicuously stuffed the phone back into his bag.

"Correct. Don't take too long though," Midorima huffed as he passed the boy a silver key, dutifully performing his vice-captain duties.

Kuroko nodded as he left the gym.

Since he slightly twisted his leg during practice today and Momoi was away to collect data, Kuroko was charged with the task of retrieving supplies.

It wasn't as if he minded although, it would be a lie if he said he wouldn't rather being playing right now. Yet, as the sound of his even steps clunked down the pavement, he caught a speck of gold from the edge of his peripheral.

He swiveled over in curiosity.

It was Kise…standing outside the 4th gym.

There was a dark look on his face, unbecoming of his usually drop-dead gorgeous complexion.

Kuroko instantly knew something was wrong, in fact, he had always known.

_Go to the infirmary. Preferably Alone. _

That sentence alone, accompanied by that look in Kise's eyes as he entered was evidence enough. Something was going to happen…something terribly bad.

The heel of Kuroko's foot instantly rose, about to head there immediately before the boy froze, halting all functions as hesitation clouded his expression.

_ You must not go near the 4th gym no matter what._

That was what the letter said and placed as a rule. Therefore, it couldn't be defied without dire consequences.

All the letter requested was for him to head to the infirmary after practice.

Practice wasn't over yet. Not until 10 more minutes.

Suddenly Kuroko's muscles relaxed. That's right.

He had to follow the letters. He had too…yet, when he tried to pry himself away he found that he couldn't.

A lump formed in his throat.

The atmosphere in that gym was tense, unbearably tense.

A sense of unease enveloped the boy.

He suddenly heard voices resound in the supposedly deserted gym. Many voices.

Kuroko widened his eyes before his head hung low, eyes expressionless.

He clenched his fists…before running towards the gym.

Kise was under _his _jurisdiction right now. Although Kuroko knew Akashi had some ulterior motives in store when he appointed his 6th man as the model's personal trainer, that fact didn't change. It would never change.

So how could he just stand by and watch?

Yet, there was another truth that wouldn't change.

He defied one of the rules.

He defied his future self.

**[=]**

"Hmm, so pretty boy actually came," a voice sniggered darkly once Kise Ryouta entered the dimly lit gym.

The model glanced over indolently, looking extremely bored with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his shorts.

"Ooh? So you're the ones that called me over?" Kise asked, clearly not impressed as he instantly recognized the faces of the group of 5, some Teiko first and second-stringers. He didn't even have to ask to know what was going on.

These people held a grudge towards him…most definitely for being amazingly perfect.

A sigh escaped Kise's lips. "Umm, I already know what you guys are here for so can you skip whatever speech you're going to start?" He interrupted, cutting off a first-stringer right when he looked as if he was about to speak.

The first-stringer gaped at his words before his face morphed into a ball of flaming rage. "Oi damn you Kise! Don't you get so cocky on me now! Just because you're in the same string as me doesn't mean you can do that to your sempai!" He scowled darkly, about to launch at him before two guys had to go and restrain him.

Yet, even they looked as if they were about to murder the blond.

Kise stared at them in lassitude. He had seen this scene many times before. Whether it was in soccer, modeling, or general popularity, because he excelled at such a rapid pace and instantly rose to the top, many had confronted him about it before. In fact, his personality turned jaded whenever that topic arose as a result. Thus, he did not intend to try to negotiate with them by playing nice again. It was a fruitless effort. Besides, they threatened to hurt Kuroko, the weakest person Kise seemed to be attached to if he didn't go.

That was unforgivable.

He parted his lips. "Oh? Really? Well, I think that's what really sucks about seniority you know? I mean just because you're a sempai you think you can do such things without a care in the world. I really find that annoying, seriously." Kise sighed, scratching the back of his head.

They glared at him. "Oi why yo—"

"Oh but of course," Kise continued, eyes flying open as if reaching an epiphany, "that can't be helped in your case. Even though you're a third-year, it must be beyond frustrating to lose to a second-year that only started playing for barely a month," Kise smirked.

It only took an instant for hell to break loose.

"Damn you!" The sempai yelled and instantly charged at the boy, the others unable to restrain him nor wanting to at this point.

Of course, Kise easily dodged his punches. He was a basketball player, not a wrestler, his moves were considerably easy to predict and were generally a lot slower than Aomine's speed if comparing them to ball-stealing techniques.

However, Kise didn't punch back himself, he only dodged continuously, hands still in pocket as if it was a breeze.

Of course, this only angered his sempai further as his face began to develop tomato-like qualities.

Kise was fine with that, in fact, it was more or less what he planned.

He couldn't do anything about their anger really because at the very least, he was kind. He could understand their anger. After all, he felt that same despair when he met Kuroko and Aomine.

It was the hollowing, bone-crushing emotion of chasing something fleeting, something that you would never be able to obtain. For them, is Kise's skills, god-like things in their eyes, and for him, it was the possibility of never being able to surpass Aomine, and never being able to step into the world created by the "shadow" and "light" duo of Teiko.

However, there was a distinct difference between the two. Kise found this challenge, this sense of despair to be fun and enjoyable while they were constantly oppressed by this gap.

He didn't understand this feeling, he didn't know what to do about it but, the fact that it was still caused by him didn't change. He just knew that it wasn't them who were entirely in the wrong and therefore, because of that foolish form of kindness, he decided to let them pent up all that rage in one punch…and take the brunt of it.

"DAMNNNNN YOUUUUU!" The sempai roared and Kise knew it was time.

He froze on the spot, ready to accept…when he realized that he was aiming for his face.

He blinked.

Waitwaitwaiiitt!

The face?!

Why the face?!

No, NOT THE FACE!

His manager was going to kill him!

He instantly formed an X with his hands, attempting to block it before Whoosh!

A speck of blue instantly shrouded his vision, followed by the sound of a punch contacting skin.

Immediately, there was a loud thud.

Kise widened his eyes in horror.

"K-k-KUROKOCCHI!" He screamed, as he gaped at Kuroko Tetsuya, limp figure dead on the floor.

"W-where did he come from?!" The aggregation cried, stunned by the appearance of a 7th person before recognizing him as the valued trump card of Teiko basketball team.

Kuroko jerked himself awake, head spinning at the delirious shock of being egged in the stomach.

He was the one who jumped to cover Kise, luckily with some calculated movement in order to minimize the damage done. However, he wasn't a Parcour or a Aikido specialist and therefore, felt a twinge of indescribable pain each time he tried to move.

He winced, clutching his stomach, poker face slowly slipping off.

"K-kurokocchi! K-kurokocchi! Ar-are you alright?!" Kuroko heard Kise cry frantically as he blearily opened his eyes, practically seeing tears drip from the model's disturbingly long eyelashes.

Kuroko squinted.

He didn't want to see such an expression in Kise's eyes.

He gritted his teeth.

Whack!

Instantly a fist contacted Kise's money-making face, sending him into a forced silence. Strangely enough, it was none other than Kuroko who had done the deed. "Yes, Kise-kun, I'm fine, but I might not be after hearing you constantly screaming into my ear like that," Kuroko sighed, putting up a strong front for Kise's sake.

Luckily Kise seemed to have bought it. "But oww! Kurokocchi! Why did you punch me in the face?! I thought you took that shot for me because you didn't want my face hurt!"

"Huh?" Kuroko began, struggling to keep his voice level. "Of course not. If it had gotten you in the face it would've been better," he deadpanned.

"EH?!"

"It was your hands that I was worried about. You can't play basketball without them. Kise-kun loves basketball right?" Kuroko asked as he weakly grasped hold of both the blond's slender hands.

"K-kurokocchi...!" Kise gasped, about to tear up from both concern and joy.

Kuroko sighed, before turning to the rest of the basketball players, now looking uneasy at what they had done.

Kuroko's expression immediately darkened to an abysmal glare.

They flinched.

"Haizaki-kun, please call them off," Kuroko demanded, calling out a rather unexpected name.

"Eh?" Kise blurted, surprised that Haizaki Shougo, another one of the regulars, would be here.

"Heh." Instantly, from the top of the bleachers, a figure leapt down, landing with a thud as a silver-haired male sauntered over with a predatory smirk on his lips. "Well, well, well, Tetsuya. Who would've thought you'd be here," he began in a low sneer.

"The same could be said for you," Kuroko evenly replied but there was no mistaking the anger laced behind his words.

Haizaki laughed at his expression. "True but, you've done a great job of sniffing me out, as expected of Seijuro's hand-picked dog."

Kuroko didn't say at word at his provocation. Getting mad at him wouldn't do him any good, in fact, that was exactly what Haizaki was looking for.

"H-Haizaki! You said that no one would disturb us here!" One of the sempai's cried, voice highly accusing of the regular.

Haizaki sighed, looking extremely irritated. "Ah? Yeah, yeah, you got that right. That was how it's supposed to be but…Tetsuya here is a bit of an exception," Haizaki countered lazily.

"Hah?! What kind of explanation is that?!" The sempais demanded.

The silver-haired boy scratched his head. "Fine, fine. It's fine if I make it up to you right?" He yawned before a dangerous smirk lit up his features.

He logged over to Kise, who was knelt down and guarding Kuroko while Kuroko sat up, one hand clasped weakly over his stomach in pain yet, never once did the intensifying gaze in his eyes waver.

Haizaki's smirk only widened. That was what he liked about Kuroko. That was what everybody liked about him…which only made it more rewarding…to steal that away.

"Sorry Tetsuya…but you see, the sempais are getting mad at me so don't blame me…for what's going to happen next."

Kuroko narrowed his eyes.

"The same can be said for me," Kuroko suddenly whispered, free hand shoved into his pant pocket to pull out a blue cellular.

He flipped it open…and everyone in the room blanched.

A bead of sweat trickled down Haizaki's forehead.

"…Damn you…"

Those pair of azure eyes never faltered.

**IN CONVERSATION WITH:**

**[赤司 征十郎]** (Akashi Seijuro)

**05: 32**

**[=]**

"Kurokocchi!"

"Kuroko!"

"Kuro-chin!"

"Tetsu!"

When Kuroko Tetsuya awoke, the sound of male voices instantly bombarded his ears as his eyes fluttered open, blinking at the light that seeped in.

He was in the infirmary…staring at a mass of rainbow colored heads.

"Ahh! Kurokocchi! You're alright!" Kise blubbered in joy once he saw that his friend was still alive.

"Tetsu!" Aomine beamed with a sigh of relief before then glaring at Kise. "Oi, how could you let Tetsu get hurt like that?!"

"I'm sorry Aominecchi! I'm really sorry!" Kise apologized but it was obvious that he was clearly blaming himself as well.

"Aomine-kun, please don't kill the person I actually took the time to save," Kuroko sighed as he sat up, slightly cringing when he had to rely on his stomach muscles.

"Tetsuya, I wouldn't do that if I were you. You were lucky they didn't hit a vital spot but you're severely weakened at the moment," Kuroko heard Akashi say as he turned to meet the red-head, face as composed as ever.

However, Kuroko was incisive enough to catch the slight knit in Akashi's brows.

He was angry.

"Hah, this is why I didn't want to have Haizaki on the team. Not only did he upstart all these malicious rumors about us, he even had to go attack Kise and Kuroko!" Midorima huffed, pushing up his glasses.

Akashi frowned. "True. However, it's undeniable that he has greatly contributed to Teiko's victory for the past year."

Aomine looked as if he was ready to blow. "HAH?! Oi Akashi! Even if it's you I'm not going to let this go! What if he does something to Tetsu again?!" He demanded instantly pulling Akashi up by the collar.

The rest of the gang instantly flinched at his actions, afraid that hell was going to freeze over. No one did that to Akashi. NO ONE.

Yet, strangely enough, Akashi didn't say a word. He only narrowed his eyes as if in thought…very deep thought.

It seemed as if he didn't agree either.

"Aomine, your captain is right. Let go of him," a sudden voice called from the door of the infirmary.

The color gang whirled around.

"Haizaki contributed greatly to Teiko's victory. That's enough reason to allow him to stay. Or, did you forget about Teiko's doctrine?" The voice questioned dauntingly as a male walked into the room, dark orange hair neatly spiked and combed back with strangs of orange dangling down

Aomine clenched his teeth. "…Coach Tousaka."

**[=]**

Back in the deserted first gym where Kuroko had left his things, the sound of a vibrating phone briefly echoed in the air.

It was from the iPhone.

**To: [黒子 テツヤ] **

**From: [Phantom]**

_**"Winning is everything,"**_

_**That is Teiko's doctrine.**_

_**But, I hope that by this time, you'll come to understand how wrong a thing it is.**_

**[End]**

* * *

**Owari.**

Note: **Tou**saka, as some of you may have or not have guessed means...dum, dum, dum: ORANGE.

So now, the rainbow is complete.

* * *

**Preview:**

**A Worm Called Doubt- **Tousaka Souji is the coach of Teiko basketball, the one that instilled the Teiko doctrine within each member when they first arrived. Naturally, no one doubted that...until Kuroko sees the message left in his phone. Yet, while making preparations for the school festival, Kuroko also finds himself asking why his future self forbid him to go near the 4th gym. Going saved Kise, nothing bad occured at all so why? Well, soon the truth dawns on the boy...in the form of a Worm Called Doubt.

**Thank you reading, please leave a review/ concrit ( I love constructive criticism) if you can! I'm very grateful for all your support!**


	5. Entry 5: A Worm Called Doubt

**OMG what is wrong with me OTLlll After logging on and seeing so many responses, I couldn't stop myself from typing this up (even though it's finals week!) **

**I love you guys for the immense support. Seriously. but at the same time, I curse you guys cuz I'm actually typing this at midnight and I don't even know why. I CAN'T STOP.**

* * *

**Entry 5: A Worm Called Doubt**

"Winning is everything." That was Teiko Basketball team's doctrine. Criticism was allowed only after winning and losing was an unforgivable sin. This was the mentality used to build one of the most powerful Middle school teams in the nation, created by a man named Touzo Shirogane, the head coach of Teiko basketball team, and advocated by the other coaches, including the first string's Tousaka Souji. Naturally, none of the members questioned it for it was the first thing instilled within them the moment they arrived.

They didn't necessarily believe in it, as each played basketball for their own reasons, but everyone still abided those rules. It was a small price to pay to be able to play on a nationally renowned team. Besides, it did lead them to victory after all and who didn't thirst for that?

Naturally, Tousaka Souji was a very daunting man, having a permanent frown firmly knitted into his brows and a daunting voice filled with conviction. Yet, despite that, he was generally a man of few words, a trait that seemed to frighten more than enlighten when applied to a man in his thirties, standing at 183cm.

Kise only blinked in confusion, barely recognizing the face of his coach. He was too fixated on Aomine to even notice back then.

"Coach, why are you here?" Midorima asked, the first to say something substantial after Tousaka's unexpected words.

Instantly, the increased tension deflated as the man seem to return to his usual demeanor.

"Are you all not aware of how fast this news of an alleged "gang fight" was? I came to check up on all of you, particularly you Kuroko." Tousaka answered stoically as he strode over to the boy, signaling for Kuroko to lift up his shirt.

Acquiescently, the boy did so and instantly watched how his teammates' faces darkened by a few shades.

He glanced down.

It was swelling purple.

"Hmm…it's not as bad as I thought," Tousaka murmured as Aomine and Kise both shot him an incredulous look. What in the world was bad then?!

The man didn't seem to notice, he only placed a first aid kit onto the ground, knelt down and retrieved a white tube from within before slathering its contents over the bruise.

Kuroko slightly winced. Although it was meant to reduce swelling nevertheless, the sharp sensation of pain he felt was everything but pleasant.

"Okay it's done. It should heal by next practice." Tousaka said as he got up, lifting the first aid box up and turning on his heels for the door, signaling in his own way that his business was over.

"Um please wait Coach," Kuroko suddenly voiced, stopping the man in his tracks.

Ever so slightly, the man tilted his head back, his tangerine irises meeting azure.

"Coach, what happened to the other members?" Kuroko asked. He knew that Akashi must've immediately ratted them out but, despite what they did, they weren't entirely in the wrong. Their frustrations were things that Kuroko once shared.

"I had them resign." Tousaka dryly answered, voice flat and unfazed. "It would cut down on members after all."

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. "I see." Of course, things would turn out this way. A basketball with over 100 members was something beyond manageable therefore cutting down on members gave Tousaka less work to do. Besides, they were troublemakers but, they weren't Haizaki. Following the "winning is everything" doctrine, no matter what they did, they weren't worth the trouble as they didn't even have a shred of the talent Haizaki held.

Kuroko understood that his logic was sound yet, for once, something didn't sit well with him at all.

Nevertheless, Tousaka left, exiting through the infirmary doors as he instantly heard the sound of chatter traverse behind him. Excluding the apathetic trio or red, purple, and blue, the rest of the Generation of Miracles had as much volume as their playing. The moment Tousaka stepped out however, he noticed someone standing by the edge of his peripheral.

It was a janitor, clad in his dark blue work uniform with a janitor cap obscuring his face. This time however, the sick mask was gone, revealing a wan complexion signature to the Japanese.

"You didn't have to wait here," Tousaka spoke, voice even as usual.

However, there was no denying that slight twitch in his tangerine eyes.

A ghost of a smile flashed across the janitor's lips. "Yes, I didn't have to did I?" He murmured, as if he had caught himself from a reverie.

Tousaka narrowed his eyes. "You...have you spoken to the head coach yet?"

"Yes, he asked me to clean up for today."

Tousaka momentarily paused. "...What about _that_ then? Did you already negotiate things through?"

"...I'm not quite sure what you're referring to." The janitor replied secretively.

Propping himself up from the wall, the janitor walked towards the man. "Well then, could you please give me the cleaning instructions for today?" He asked, getting down to business.

Tousaka sighed. "You can start with the 4th gym."

The janitor tipped his cap with a nod.

**[=]**

It was impossible to define what everything meant in this world and although Kuroko usually enjoyed that aspect as it proved a plug for his outlandish attraction towards mystery, for once Kuroko felt a twang of wanting things to be painted in black and white.

Although a day already passed since the incident, nothing of dire consequence had yet to occur despite his stunt of breaking a "rule" his future self had laid out for him. In the end, the only thing he was left with was a message from the iPhone, speaking of a seemingly completely unrelated matter.

**To: [****黒子****テツヤ****]**

**From: [Phantom]**

**_"Winning is everything,"_**

**_That is Teiko's doctrine._**

**_But, I hope that by this time, you'll come to understand how wrong a thing it is._**

**[End]**

What was this supposed to mean? Kuroko understood the contents, generally summing it up to how winning wasn't supposed to be everything but in the first place, Kuroko never believed in that. Although he did follow this and thus created his "shadow" style for the sake of winning, to him it was an excuse to play basketball. His style was only there for the sake of winning after all.

However the problem laid within the message's relation to the incidents that day. If his future self was using that incident as a chance to make a statement, to open Kuroko's eyes to something, it was far from potent. Despite his coach having made unexpected declaration for them to stay true to Teiko's doctrine and forcing members to resign, it wasn't particularly anything new. The impact was too small for the message to make any sense.

Striding down the hall, Kuroko sighed and pocketed the iPhone. Sometimes, over-thinking would lead to deadweights so for now, Kuroko decided to let things go. Besides, he had something he needed to do.

"Ah, Tetsu-kun!" A more than familiar voice called from afar as Kuroko turned to meet a girl with fluttering pink hair, bouncing up and down with joy towards him.

Kuroko slightly squinted. Somehow, he felt that Momoi and Kise were ridiculously similar now. However, with that ever-polite tone, he bowed, "good morning, Momoi-san."

"Good morning Tetsu-kun! Are you planning to go somewhere?" Momoi asked with almost unnatural ebullience—perhaps Aomine not being there to disturb her "alone time" with Kuroko had something to do with it.

However her statement made Kuroko slightly smile. "Ah yes, could you tell? I plan on going over to the school bulletin," Kuroko replied, knowing that with her slightly creepy informant skills, she was probably referring to the fact that he was heading down a corridor he rarely ever used.

Momoi widened her eyes in surprise. "Eh really? The bulletin board by the student council? That's rare Tetsu-kun, are you planning on entering a competition for the cultural festival?" she speculated, nailing it with one shot.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes, remember how I told Aomine-kun that I was looking forward to it this year? Well, it was partially due to this," Kuroko confessed.

"Oh is that so? What kind of competition are you participating in?" Momoi inquired.

Kuroko smiled. "A three-legged race."

_May 1st_

_Since the cultural festival is nearing, I want to complete a bit of a whim. In 2nd year, the puzzle club hosted a three-legged race competition where the winning prize was a pair of Lebron James basketball shoes. I wanted to get it for Aomine-kun, as thanks for everything he did because back then, on the day I wanted to quit basketball altogether, the one that stopped you was Aomine-kun. However, in the end, I wasn't able to get the shoes for him. I hope you can accomplish what I couldn't back then. _

Kuroko couldn't deny this. Even now, that day when Aomine said those words, when Akashi appeared before him, was still clearly vivid in his mind. Although Aomine wasn't exactly a role model, especially with his lazy, rambunctious, and "Ahomine" nature, it was undeniable that the one who truly made him to enjoy basketball was Aomine Daiki.

"Ah but, Momoi-san, would you like to be my partner for it?" Kuroko asked, recalling that his first choice, his friend Kandou-kun **( A/N: from Replace 1, if you flip the characters of Kandou, you get Fujimaki) **had already made plans with the Manga society.

He wondered if he said something wrong because instantly, the girl flushed a deep red all the way to her ears and began stuttering incoherently with an incessant string of "EH?!".

Luckily, Kuroko managed to stop her from fainting in delirious giggles within the minute although calming her down proved to be quite a feat.

In the end, he still managed by telling her how he wanted to get the Lebron James shoes for Aomine. She instantly sobered up, whispering something about "how nice it is to be a boy" before gladly agreeing to help, although with hints of jealously behind her grin.

However, once they reached the bulletin board, had it been possible, it would've been Kuroko's turn to faint.

**TEIKO CROSS-DRESSING PUZZLE COMPETITION!**

**IN CLOTHES FOR THE OPPOSITE GENDER, THE PUZZLE SOCIETY WELCOMES YOU TO THE GREATEST COMPETITION OF YOUR LIVES (in various ways LOL)!**

Even the expressionless Kuroko couldn't help but twitch.

"Ah! I remember now! The puzzle club decided to change their three-legged race to a cross-dressing competition after they had an argument with the student council over club spaces!" Momoi exclaimed, attempting to be helpful.

Sadly, for a long while, it was already too late for Kuroko.

"…" Kuroko stayed silent. Despite having an indecipherable demeanor, Kuroko still did pride himself as a male. There was no way he was going to do something as embarrassing as cross-dressing. _Never. EVER. _

"…Momoi-san, please forget about what I said," Kuroko finalized, concluding that the Lebron James shoes weren't worth what was left of his pride as a male, especially after being commented on by Kise for his thin and nearly _feminine_ frame. Although Kuroko was still in the middle of developing a new pass, he promptly decided that Kise would prove to be a great test subject. Wails and screams followed suit.

However, once he turned to the informant, he couldn't help but catch that hint of almost…disappointment in her eyes. "Eh? But Tetsu-kun, didn't you say you were going to get the shoes for Aomine-kun? I think he'd be really happy," Momoi practically whimpered taking Aomine's side for once. Naturally, she just wanted to see her crush cross-dressing mainly because with his naturally smooth and wan complexion, she was dying of curiosity to see how he'd look—Not that he had to know of course.

However, it wasn't her feminine charm that worked on him (she liked him because it never did) but her words instead.

_"I think he'd be really happy"_

Kuroko knew he would be happy, in fact, annoyingly so even. Aomine always did love a good pair of basketball shoes and Lebron James's happened to be his favorite.

_However, in the end, I wasn't able to get the shoes for him. I hope you can accomplish what I couldn't back then._

"…" Kuroko stopped in his tracks. He turned, blue meeting pink irises looking expectantly at him.

"Momoi-san, could you help me with this?"

The girl instantly beamed.

However, this was the sole perpetrator behind what was then known as Kuroko Tetsuya's misfortune. (**A/N: Now I wonder whose fault is that voters~? ;P)**

**[=]**

"Alright, so for the cultural festival, it's been decided that we'll do a play!" The 2nd class representative of 2-A announced as the rest of its students cheered and applauded, particularly the girls who were already intent on writing a script worthy of their shoujo fantasies. Aomine and Kuroko, who were on opposite sides of the room due to the last name placement system only buried themselves further with their endeavors, one reading a mystery novel and the other—napping.

Momoi wasn't very attentive either, in fact, despite being up and on stand-by as a class representative, she was inside a pleasant reverie, contemplating on what kind of clothing she'll forc—ahem _prepare_ for Kuroko. Should she go with the cute look? The kimono look? The Victorian frills look?! Ahhh! God bless world culture!

However, she wished she did behave in her usual model student manner because amidst her mental gushing, she missed an incredibly crucial vote that led to this: "So, we'll be settling for Aomine and the prince and Momoi as the princess."

"HAAAHHH?!" Aomine and Momoi cried in unison, instantly slamming their desks.

"It's for marketing purposes of course! Since Momoi is extremely popular with guys and Aomine is generally, if he keeps his mouth shut and scowl down, popular with girls, you two will be the key to our play's success." Her fellow class representative explained although, said class representative turned out to be Momoi's friend Izumi, who somehow deluded herself into thinking that Momoi and Aomine held secret feelings for each other—beyond the boundary of childhood friends.

Momoi facepalmed. HARD.

This was the very reason why she worked so hard to force out the habit of calling Aomine "Dai-chan" at school in the first place! But at this rate, everything would be for naught if even more people were left with such an impression!

She HAD to think of something, there was no way she was going to act in a romantic play with Aomine!

"Well, Momoi-chan definitely is the most beautiful out of us right?" A girl gushed.

"Well that's true. After all you have a nice body AND face!" A boy declared, much to Momoi's disturbance.

Momoi gritted her teeth; she couldn't think of anything at all! They wanted a nice and pretty face and although it was horrible of her to think this way but she doubted the class—particularly Izumi would take anyone else. Noo! If this happens, the basketball members were definitely going to pick on her for it, in fact her beloved "Tetsu-kun" might misunderstand! Anything but that!

…Wait, Tetsu-kun?!

Instantly she reached an epiphany and before she even had time to think, Momoi dashed across the room, to where Kuroko's tentative location should've been before instantly declaring, "Um, I nominate Tets—Kuroko-kun instead!"

Kuroko's blank blue orbs blinked back at her, causing her to snap out of whatever thing had possessed her to do this.

She immediately squeezed her eyes shut. What in the world did she just do?!

"K-kuroko-kun? But…he's a boy!" Izumi gaped in disbelief.

"No wait…Izumi-chan, I think I see the appeal in this now…" A girl muttered as her eyes flashed dangerously, lips forming a predatory smirk.

Immediately, as if Momoi had raised fangirling zombies from the dead, the female population nodded in agreement, beginning to slowly maneuver towards Kuroko's desk.

"Oh wait! Momoi-chan's right! Kuroko-kun's face is actually extremely neat!" Fangirling Zombie A exclaimed.

"Oh his skin is so pale and soft! PERFECT!" Zombie B cried.

Momoi flinched. She instantly felt as if she had just unleashed something horribly wrong.

However, it was already too late. Despite Aomine being still as confused as ever as he glanced from his safe little island across the room, Kuroko…was staring at her intently.

Momoi squeezed her eyes, slowly counting to ten in her head.

She sucked in a breath.

"Please Tetsu-kun. If you do this for me, I'll buy you a month's worth of vanilla milkshake."

Kuroko only stared blankly at her.

She bit her lip, silently anticipating a reply.

Finally, Kuroko sighed. "No, it's not right to have Momoi-san buy my so many vanilla shakes. But…if you promise to help me win the competition, I'll call it even. Besides, I'm already going to be cross-dressing there right?" He concluded with a curt smile.

An arrow instantly shot Momoi in the heart.

AH! This is why she loved him!

"Of course! Leave it to me Tetsu-kun!" She confidently exclaimed, swapping out an arsenal full of possible competitor data and judge preference data.

Kuroko sweatdropped. He wondered if he went a tad overboard with that.

"But…I wonder if Aomine-kun actually understood any of this," he heard Momoi mutter.

Upon the mention of Aomine's name however, Kuroko's expression darkened.

…The things he'd do because of Aomine…

It had better be worth it. _Or else._

**[=]**

Already, it wasn't worth it.

"Pffft, seriously Tetsu?!" Aomine guffawed the moment Momoi explained everything to him. "Tetsu... in a dress?!" Aomine cried, unable to surpress his laughter as Kuroko obscured his dripping malice with his usual deadpanned face.

...The things he'd do because of Aomine...yet even so, Aomine on the other hand...was still a total "Ahomine".

Kuroko simply sighed.

Aomine tilted his brow up, surprised by Kuroko's passivity towards the whole ploy. Aomine even bothered to prepare himself in case Kuroko performed whatever perpetually painful acts in retaliation but...what was this?

"Oi, what's with that reaction Tetsu?" Aomine demanded uneasily, unused to this apathetic treatment.

Kuroko only gave him another one of his soul-wringing stares before releasing yet another sigh.

Momoi stared at the two, brows twitching at Aomine's behavior. Oh god, he was such an insensitive jerk at times. Kuroko's kindness was a waste on him, especially since her crush planned on going through such lengths just to get Aomine a pair of basketball shoes!

However, even she was slightly startled by Aomine's behavior...he was way too calm for someone who was going to act as the prince to _princess_ Kuroko.

"...Um Dai-chan, do you even understand what acting with Tetsu-kun means?" Momoi slowly asked peering closely at Aomine's expression.

"Ah? Obviously we'll be working together again like on the court. Even if he's dressed up as a girl, Tetsu's still Tetsu," Aomine replied breezily, causing Momoi to inwardly groan.

That's right. She had forgotten that the concept of romance had always eluded him. In fact, most likely the reason why Aomine even jumped up during the casting session was probably because he was going to have to do "work" if he received the lead. Now however, since it was a chance the potentially make fun of Kuroko and act with him, Aomine probably thought "why not."He couldn't use the courts anyways.

"Ah great! You guys are still here!" A cheery voice suddenly exclaimed as the trio glanced up, watching Izumi prance towards them with glee. She was skipping, something that never bode well for Momoi.

"Ah? Did you need something?" Aomine scowled, swarthy face accenting his gangster look. Momoi promptly whacked him in the head with a hissing, "Dai-chan!"

Izumi however seemed too gleeful to care. "It's okay Momoi-chan but besides that, we decided that we're going to enact Sleeping Beauty~!" She exclaimed.

Momoi blinked...before instantly understanding her logic. Ah, her friend finally did something nice for a change! "Ah, nice job Izumi-chan! If Tetsu-kun is the princess who's asleep the whole time, he won't have to do too much acting!" she exclaimed in relief.

This should definitely uplift Kuroko's spirits, no matter how slight!

Izumi nodded in agreement. "Yup~ After all, Kuroko-kun's isn't too expressive right? So we thought this would definitely be the best story for him!"

"Ah, thank you Izumi-san," Kuroko bowed, just as Momoi hoped, his mood did relax...just a tad anyways.

"Oi but don't I have to do most of the acting then?" Aomine frowned, realizing that he would in turn receive a huge load of work.

Izumi beamed. "Oh don't worry about that! The prince basically fights off monsters, you don't have to say much, just let out roars when your up against a dragon or something."

It was Aomine's turn to smile. Ooh, so he just had to do nothing but fight things? With swords?

He was definitely in.

However, Momoi couldn't help but squint at her friend's joy. She was too happy to be simply ecstatic over the play's finalizations. Besides, her joy never necessarily meant well... for the rest of humanity.

"Um...Izumi-chan, what's the catch?" Momoi cautiously spoke, as if she was going to step into a landmine.

And she did.

Izumi instantly SPARKLED. "Ah! I'm so glad you asked!" She gushed. "Well you see, in Sleeping Beauty, the prince HAS to give the princess a KISS to save her!"

"...WHAT?!"

**[=]**

The library was quiet, thankfully quiet as Kuroko scooted over a wooden chair, seating himself upon it. He then placed the hardcover he held in his hands onto the redwood table before releasing a small and slow sigh.

Today definitely was not a good day. Moreover, Kuroko had a feeling that his misfortune was continue...and continue.

He sighed once more.

Deciding that it was best to keep his mind off all the _horrible_ events of the day, Kuroko turned to the book in front of him, a book on time continuum theories. Perhaps delving into mystery would lift his mood. Besides, he had to know why everything went in such unexpected directions. The letter didn't notify him about any of this at all.

Fingers caressing the thin paper, Kuroko flipped through its pages, skimming its contents with great concentration. The book was quite difficult to understand as some concepts were quite abstract and were more grounded on probability and engineering. Kuroko was more of a literature person but luckily, he still did manage to understand the main idea- and idea that instantly allowed the book to slip through his fingers—landing onto the table with a dull thud.

Shock registered in his azure eyes.

The book stated that although the past may change, the future where the original came from would stay the same. Instead, when the past changes, a new future may be built, overshadowing the original future.

This meant that the future timeline where his future self sent him letters would never change no matter what was done to the past. Therefore, his future self had no plans of changing the world he currently resided in, the world, in which according to him, was painted in despair.

Kuroko still didn't know what occured in the future but, from the tears he saw spilt onto the previous letter, it was definitely something serious.

_Very serious._

However, Kuroko wasn't the type to pity himself. If he did, especially with the fact that he was "invisible" most of his life, he wouldn't have been able to handle everything so calmly. Kuroko's thought processes flew beyond such a revelation, into something much worse.

The fact that the three-legged race changed to a cross-dressing competition, the letters, the message, and the incident with the basketball players were all signs that things "changed". Nothing was of their original timeline anymore. However, following that trail of thought, it also meant that the message about the Teiko doctrine was meant for a Kuroko that didn't defy the future and stayed away from the 4th gym. It was meant for a Kuroko in an alternate timeline where instead of him getting hurt—Kise did instead.

That was the only way Kuroko would ever feel that the Teiko doctrine was horribly wrong. Akashi and Coach Tousaka were planning to turn a blind eye to Haizaki despite Kuroko being hurt and since it was he himself who was injured, that was something Kuroko could accept. However…if it was Kise, Kuroko couldn't have possibly let it slide.

And that, was the very thing that astonished Kuroko.

It meant in essence after all, that his future self _purposely _allowed Kise to be hurt.

_Why?_

* * *

**I'm ready to die now /shot/**

**It's so hard to integrate both mystery and comedy at the same time =w=; Hopefully you enjoyed that!**

**Preview:**

**Operation X-** The GOM find out about Kuroko's cross-dressing schemes and some are NOT pleased. In fact, through incessant strings of curses directed at an oblivious swarthy teen, an unlikely friendship blooms between yellow and pink. Moreover, when the final verdict is laid out, Akashi in particular...has something interesting in store; something lightly dubbed, as **Operation X **(SHOOT Subconcious KHR reference!)


	6. Entry 6: Operation X

**Slight edits to CH 5 to better suit current Teiko timeline (Auing but not too Auing? XD)**

**PS. wondering if you guys would want "everthing to change" or read some angst about how things "start going downhill" /shot/ either way, my planned conclusion won't change but I have a habit of visualizing the _beginning _and _ending _of a story so the things in the middle are slightly blurred. Would love your opinion if you so choose to do so! :D**

* * *

**Entry 6: Operation X**

Momoi was _intelligent._

Through her high-standing grades within the school and her excellent skill prowess as the infamous informant of the basketball team, Momoi has proven her abilities repeatedly over the past year and a bit since Midorima had known her.

However, as of late, she had changed from the person he knew and into a _girl. _

Suddenly she would have bouts of romantic gushing quite foreign to her before and from his understanding of girls, that was the sign called _fangirling,_ when a female would become a profoundly strange creature. In fact, as he as he scanned the clubroom in which Momoi called an impromptu meeting to with a twitching eye, he could hope that this was one of the _better_ phases of these strange creatures.

He was wrong.

Of course, he had reasons to think that she would be doing something of actual productivity as first, Aomine and Kuroko, the two objects of her solace were nowhere in sight, _Akashi_ was here along with a munching Murasakibara, and Kise was he- wait, why _was _he, a mere first-stringer here? Oh right. He latched onto Midorima the moment the regular received Momoi's message.

Yet, this was definitely not one of the girl's saner days as the one so revered as the most beautiful girl on campus slammed both hands onto the podium, her luscious pink-hair swaying with her hips while she exclaimed with ferocity, "Tetsu-kun's lips!"

He squinted, trying to find any possibility of how that sentence was supposed to make any sense within the next millisecond before abandoning hope in the girl and getting up to leave.

However, she still held the intellect to preempt this. "Midorin, where do you think you're going?!" She immediately demanded.

Midorima sighed...before upturning his head and shooting her his signature scowl. "I have no interest in whatever you're planning to spout next. Now may I leave? I plan to spend an extra hour crafting a special kind of pencil."

"Ehhhh? Come on, let's stay Midorimacchi! Besides, you told me that you planned to make that pencil closer to the exams to improve its effectiveness!" Kise exclaimed, completely selling the male out as Momoi beamed at that.

Midorima's frown turned permanent. He regretted answering Kise's questions about Kuroko...or meeting the annoying blond at all.

"Eh really? That's great! Then you can join in on this because...there's something horrible going on." She began, voice darkening with every word.

The rest responded with lassitude and continuous munching while Kise was the only one who seemed intrigued.

"In my class' play...Tetsu-kun...Tetsu-kun!" She cried, no longer able to contain her sobs. "Tetsu-kun will be cross-dressing as a princess...while AOMINE-KUN WILL BE THE PRINCE!" She wailed in despair.

Midorima choked. "HAH?!" He cried in disgust, as if it was the most disturbing thing he had ever heard.

"EHH?!" Kise joined in while the captain and center simply stayed silent with the former forming a bemused smile on his lips.

"Right? It's horrible isn't it?" Momoi cried. "That's why, I've called all of you guys here to stop this since...the prince..." she grimaced, "has to give the princess a kiss!"

It was perfunctory for Midorima's otherwise elegant features to twist with sheer horror. That...would be very disturbing to see. VERY.

Akashi raised a brow.

"What? Oh that's HORRIBLE! But, Momoi-chan, when you ask us to 'do something', it's about Aominecchi right? What if we tie him up before the play?" Kise immediately asked, dishing out an idea, shocking Midorima with his eagerness as he caught an intense glimmer in the blond's eyes.

"Mhhn? Tie him up? Ooh if it's about being mean to Mine-chin, we can probably crush him before the play?" Murasakibara offered with a terrifyingly dark notion Midorima suspected to stem from Aomine getting the ball past him last practice.

"Eh? Well that's good and all but..." Momoi frowned, brows furrowing (wait, she was actually considering this?!). "But, we can't. Our play is still counting on him," she sighed with dejection.

"Well Aominecchi is the prince but..."

Midorima tuned the rest out. He was already shocked that somehow the new first-stringer was completely merging with their group for some unknown reason and he was actually managing to hold his own in a conversation again the suspected lovesick girl and the incorrigible snack giant.

"...Momoicchi..."

"...Ki-chan..."

Midorima blinked as these words managed to crawl to his brain throughout their incessant debate. Wait, did they just move to nickname-basis, as if it was a completely natural thing to do in one's first time with conversing over 30 seconds to each other?

"Ah I see." A sudden sharp yet harmonious voice paused.

Immediately, the room grew silent.

All eyes landed on Akashi albeit Kise had a slightly harder time adjusting.

"If that's the case then Satsuki...it's best to proceed with a bit of D-day." Akashi hinted.

His vice-captain stared at him aghast. Wait, Akashi was planning on joining in?!

"Eh? D-day? The Normandy invasion?" Momoi asked, knowing her history quite well.

Obviously the infamous name was well-known of Midorima as well but what..? Ah.

"Yes. Exactly that. Although, I suppose, instead of conquering Normandy, we'd be aiming to conquer the stage," Akashi smirked.

Kise furrowed his brows. "Eh? D-day? What in the world is that?"

However, Momoi was no longer listening either. With sparkling eyes, the gist of his notion settled in her mind.

"Akashi-kun you're right! We can do a D-day! But...how?" She frowned to herself.

Akashi's smile never wavered."How...? It's simple..." he began, leaning forward and placing the phone in his hands on the table (wait, was that a Shogi app that was open?)

Yet, before Midorima could even form a retort for that, Akashi had laid out his scheme, voice rhythmic and captivating, charisma brimming, as his lips finally paused, allowing a perfect silence to distill the air.

He smiled.

"Well then...Let's commence Operation X."

It wasn't till after everyone had left that Midorima decided to stay behind.

"Oh? Shintarou, weren't you complaining of wanting to leave early?" Akashi commented absent-mindedly.

Midorima wrinkled his nose. "Unfortunately that was completely undermined. Still, Akashi, what were you thinking?"

Akashi looked up, giving him one of his rare innocent smiles. "Hmm? Nothing really. I suppose as it's the cultural festival, there should be time for us to relax moreover..." he continued, eyes now turning wry. "Isn't it quite unfitting for Daiki to receive the role of the prince?"

"Hah?"

**[=]**

A light baby blue princess dress with countless of frills was promptly given to the phantom player the moment he arrived backstage.

"Here you go Kuroko-kun! Go change into it in the change rooms now okay?" Izumi greeted brightly.

Kuroko's eyes slightly twitched yet he still took it and silently obeyed. It was what they had practiced for up to this day, although in the practices, he didn't have to don such a frilly dress but...this play was still the production of all of his classmates' efforts.

He released a near non-existent sigh as he reached the change room, maneuvering through its multitude of lockers for a more _secluded _space before, he caught sight of that familiar sun-kissed tan.

He blinked, watching the male groan at his "prince" costume before accidentally, he glanced at Kuroko's way.

Kuroko widened his eyes and naturally, Aomine did too. In fact, the latter looked as if he was about the scream from the shock before slowly, he expression grew frantic...and he immediately turned away.

His partner blinked at his actions...before proceeding to head over into a corner to change.

Since Aomine had learnt about the kiss setup, he had been acting strangely awkward around Kuroko. In fact, Kuroko was sure the teen was blatantly avoiding him, dashing out of class and even leaving Momoi behind whenever their rehearsals finished.

Well, he didn't expect any less from _Ahomine_ who was probably simply too embarrassed by this but, Kuroko couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt shoot through him whenever Aomine left. Really, they hadn't ever even practiced that scene before, Aomine Daiki was overthinking it...way too much. It wasn't even going to be a real kiss but rather, a stage effect by angling ones position in order to give that effect.

It wasn't any different than misdirection.

Kuroko sighed, ready to change.

**[=]**

"Y-y-you're TETSU?!" Aomine gaped a few moment before the play was about to begin.

Kuroko stared back at him innocently, as if he had asked an absurd question. However, his azure blue eyes were no longer how they had appeared before. They were now larger, accented by the plump fake eyelashes and the mascara brush. They didn't give him much make-up, going for the innocent and natural feel and holy were the girls experts at dolling up.

With a long baby blue wig that brushed down in waves across his shoulders and a gorgeous baby blue nightgown of frills and everything nice, Kuroko Tetsuya looked stunningly cute, enough for Aomine to forget to breath.

Kuroko parted his lips, unintentionally causing Aomine to notice that innocent shade of pink gloss. "If you want to laugh Aomine-kun, go ahead." He muttered, eyes slightly annoyed and darting to the side.

"L-laugh?" Aomine whispered as if that was an impossible concept. How the hell could he laugh...when with him dolled up like that, Kuroko looked as if he had given a cute pout?!

No, no, no. What was he thinking? Why was he getting all hyped up like whenever a new Mai-chan photobook came out? No, no, he was not going to be flustered over a guy, much less his best friend but...when Aomine silently scanned the male over for the _umpteenth_ time, he couldn't help but think, how the hell could he be a guy?!

Of course, Momoi who was practically glaring daggers at Aomine from afar, preempted this. _Completely._ Argh, this was the other reason why Aomine shouldn't be allowed to live! Despite everything that Aomine boasted about liking girls with big boobs, personality wise, she _knew_ he preferred gir-erm, people like Kuroko.

He always admired those who gave it their all in whatever they did, especially if it was someone with a petite stature, going against all odds. And...if he saw Kuroko as a girl...Momoi would possibly have to kill him many times over because he was _not _allowed to look at her crush like that!

She flipped out her cellphone and in a low malicious tone, she ordered. "Let's begin the plan."

**[=]**

It wasn't any day Nijimura Shuuzo, the ex-captain of Teiko Basketball decided to drop by his former middle school's cultural festival. He was in fact, unceremoniously dragged by a couple of his former classmates who were saddened to leave and wanted to play some pranks on their underclassmen.

Of course, it wasn't as if Nijimura didn't agree with such malicious intents in fact, he took joy in it thoroughly throughout his last year of captaincy, particularly for the likes of the basketball members who all feared and revered him for him capabilities and unexpected cruelty.

Still, even he did not expect this form of torture when said classmates took him over to the play, saying that it would "a lot of fun".

He merely sighed, obliging before from his nonchalant and disinterested entrance inside the pitch black gym, he saw Aomine Daiki, clad in a dark navy jacket and white pants that resembled more of an antagonist while beside him, was a stunning blonde Nijimura had heard rumors about with shimmering golden hair styled back enough for girls to die._  
_

No matter how you look at it, he seemed more like the prince.

However, in actuality, their roles were reversed as the blond, in a carefully toned voice that just make all girls in the vicinity swoon, "You will not get near my princess, her lips are for me to kiss!" and Nijimura suddenly had this urge to die.

"H-huh? Kise what the hell are you do-"

"My name is not Kise! It is Sir Alex the Great!" Kise declared as he whipped out his sword. "Now do battle with me...because you're not going to get near the princesses lips...EVER!" He declared, dashing over to Aomine.

"Hah?! Oi, what do you think you'-"

Suddenly however, instead of sword coming at him, a round and nostalgic matter came flying at the prince's face. Aomine immediately discarded his sword, subconsciously reaching for the item before catching it, slightly wincing at the velocity it was thrown at.

Nijimura immediately froze. Was that a basketball?

"Hmph, the only way you can get past Sir Alex the Great is by defeating me here and now! One-on-one!" Kise cried, getting into stand-by position.

However, although it was obvious this wasn't part of the original play, whenever Aomine saw a basketball, he would lose all rationality, only seeing him and his opponent.

"Heh, with basketball? Even so, you're not going to get near Tetsu," he smirked and immediately went down, low and steady as he performed a high speed dribble, the bounce echoing off the floorboards of the stage.

_Whoosh!_ He flew past Kise with alacrity...before he fell and tripped on the long scarf streaming off his waist.

"Ow, what the hel-"

"Hehe, it seems Aominecchi doesn't even know how to handle the weight of heavy clothes."

"This is me, the model's stage now!" Kise declared as he swiped the ball from the male and bounded off, Aomine following with a "hey!"

Now Nijimura couldn't even begin to comment on what was wrong with this scenario. For one thing, it seems that Aomine had _completely_ forgotten his role as a prince and was wreaking havoc with Kise on stage, playing _basketball _of all things on a 15th century play!

He could see the other actors staring frantically at the sight...or not. Some were just frantically gushing over Kise Ryouta's sexiness while he played.

Eventually however, Aomine did win, proving his capabilities as the Ace but after crying a "Yes!" in triumph, he was met with boos are Kise's fangirls wailed over Kise's dejected figure.

"NOOOOOO!" The crowd cried, as if the whole thing had turned into a tragedy.

"Hmm, the prince was usurped of his princision!" (position) Nijimura heard a nearby viewer summarize before the black-haired teen was whacked in the face.

"Shut up Izuki!" Cried a sharp-eyed male in glasses.

Well...despite the horrible pun, Nijimura had to agree, the prince had lost his position indeed.

All he saw before him...was an _Ahomine._

The power forward had left the basketball team thinking it would be left in good hands, ie, Akashi's hands but if any signs of noticeable change had occurred, they had occurred backwards.

Was _Midorima Shintarou_ there?

Nijimura watched in lassitude and twitches as a now high on adrenaline and completely lost cause Aomine plowed through the basketballs raining down at him with perfect accuracy as the "sorceror" Midorima was claiming the princess for himself.

Of course, Midorima was only doing this because Momoi had revealed his Kerosuke #3's death was brought by a careless Aomine who attempted the shroud the incident in darkness. Akashi had also hinted that Aomine would be psychologically wrought if he said, "the princess does not deserve your kiss but mine!" and did so just to spite him.

He should've wondered if he knew what psychologically damaging effects it would have on himself when Kuroko, staring blankly at them from backstage heard those words.

But Aomine wasn't the ace for nothing. Skillfully he dodged before knocking the basketball crate away from Midorima, silencing the mage. With alacrity he then headed onward before a giant of purple appeared with a loud bang.

"I am the snacks giant. Ehh, I heard the princess tastes like delicious sweets so I will be going there." Murasakibara declared, albeit lifelessly.

"Oh. But, if you steal away this lollipop placed on my chest, I will shut down," the giant suddenly recalled, pointing to the swirly lollipop of red and white.

Now Nijimura was pretty sure giants didn't "shut down" from lollipops being taken away. Much less Murasakibara.

"Ooh, a giant against _that _Aomine? That's a strange match-up. Wouldn't he be too slow?" An audience member, probably of basketball origins whispered.

"Hah? Are you stupid? There's no way that monster is slow." Another black-haired male, this time with bushy eyebrows commented with a low glare.

"Oi, Hanamiya, that's no way to talk to one of the freshman right?"

"Shut up Kiyoshi. You're not even from my school."

"Ehh?"

Nijimura frowned. What were the up and rising geniuses of Nishi middle and Tanihara middle doing here? Well, it was hardly surprising, there were always people snooping around Teiko's basketball team.

But, this "Hanamiya" was definitely right.

*BAM!*

The stage shook with a huge sound as instantly the giant went for Aomine, the latter only managing to dodge by a millimeter.

However, that move was made the idiot even more hyped up than before.

"Hehh, are you going all out Murasakibara?" Aomine smirked, face growing predatory as he slipped in with astounding alacrity, swiping the lollipop off Murasakibara. "Heh, with this I win right?" The swarthy male declared cheekily, taking a huge bite out of it as Murasakibara stared at him in disbelief.

"Ah...my..LOLLIPOP!" The giant cried, immediately startling all as he got up and ran full-speed towards Aomine.

"Hah? Wait, wait! Weren't you supposed to shut do-" he didn't even have time to complete his sentence before his legs instinctively kicked in, dashing madly away from the trampling giant, right off the stage and into a curtains, where a strange strangled yell was heard.

Nijimura vaguely had an idea of what was going on before slowly a surely, a bed of blue roses was pushed onto the stage, revealing a blue-haired beauty, asleep and lovely as ooohh escaped the lips of the crowd.

Nijimura's classmates chorused in...while Nijimura himself wanted to die.

Wait, that was definitely KUROKO wasn't it?

"Hah...hah..." Aomine whispered in a low and tired huff as he entered the staged, battered up by some unknown force. "Geez, what the hell was wrong with today but pfft, now, this means I finally reached the goal..." he smirked, dragging himself towards the princess.

However, instead of getting all flustered over the kiss scene was he was actually initiating, he was too delighted over his victory to notice. "Heh, the princess is mine!" He declared haughtilylike a presence of evil as he knelt before the princess with a triumphant kiss, clearly doing this to spite the horrified Kise glaring at him off stage.

Eyes catching the scowling face of Midorima and Murasakibara, he leaned in for the kiss...before the narrator declared, "and so the prince suddenly died from food poisoning."

"Eh?" The audience froze at the unfamiliar voice. Last time they checked, a girl was voicing the narrator. This was a male...with an absolutely daunting voice.

Aomine however, had this voice psychologically ingrained in his brain. "Hah? A-akashi?" He gaped as he swiveled his head to the other side of the stage, where Akashi stood, mic in hand.

His eyes demanded absolute obedience.

Aomine flinched. "What the he-"

"The Prince. Suddenly. _Died." _Akashi repeated, placing murderous emphasis on each word._  
_

Aomine paled. Immediately, he fell to the floor, body deciding to play dead to save his life.

Suddenly a real "prince" took the stage as a scarlet-haired boy clad in regal red and gold, strode towards the princess (stepping on the deceased prince) and leaned into the tuft of her hair for a passionate and sweet kiss. (at least, that was what it looked like)

The girls of the crowd screamed at his audacity before he cupped 'her' porcelain face and whispered, "it's time to awaken, my princess."

"KYAAAAAA!" The crowd screamed while Nijimura was forced to re-evaluate his decision to make Akashi captain. What. the. hell. just. happened.

Slowly the pair of sky-lined gems bloomed open as the princess, in all her adorably sleepy wake murmured softly, "Akashi-kun what are you doing?"

Akashi smirked, "just a bit of fun," he explained, offering his hand out to him as Kuroko took it and gently slid off the bed.

"Then I would appreciate it if you took your _fun _elsewhere. The play is completely ruined." Kuroko blankly refuted before the hem of his dress was caught by a pseudo thorn, causing him to lose balance and tumble down.

Naturally, Akashi caught him in his arms albeit, sacrificing his own balance as the two fell to the floor, deep in what others perceived as each others embrace. "Oh? I didn't know you could be so daring Tetsuya." Akashi tantalized within an outburst of squeals.

Kuroko lifted himself up, blue locks, gently caressing Akashi's face. "Please stop with the jokes Akashi-kun," he reprimanded before the curtains came down, Aomine still too paralyzed by fear to stop a thing.

**[=]**

The play actually ended as a huge success, with fangirls and fanboys alike admiring the display. Backstage however, each of the Generation of Miracles had received a thorough scalding from Kuroko (albeit in monotone) of their reckless and disruptive actions.

Their complaints didn't make them seem sorry though and it was promptly ended when Kise started gushing how cute Kuroko looked in a dress.

"But NOO Akashicchi! That was so unfair of you! I wanted to play the prince for Kurokocchi! You're too sly!" Kise cried in complaint.

Akashi only had that tantalizing smirk as he removed his billowing cape. "Then I suppose you'll have to do better next time to deserve better."

"Akashicchi!" Kise whined before his attention reverted back to the blunette, whipping out a camera nonchalantly. "And yup, here it goes..." he murmured before he began snapping pictures rapidly.

Kuroko twitched. "Kise-kun, didn't I say no photos were allowed?" He reminded disliking that the sight of him in a dress would be forever captured and most likely preserved.

"Ehh? Oh come on don't be like that Kurokocchi! You look beautiful!"

Kuroko merely sighed...before Kise promptly died and as he returned to the change room and went for the zipper of his gown.

Ah. He paused.

He had forgotten he was incapable of removing such a thing by himself. His arm couldn't bend enough to reach. However, before could even attempt to call for help, a warm hand grabbed his shoulders.

He whipped around in surprise, blue locks lifted up in the air as those bottomless azure eyes met a deep navy, eye to eye.

"Oi, don't turn around Tetsu, how am I supposed to help you unzip it?" Aomine demanded.

"Aomine-kun. Why are you here?" Kuroko refuted, not even budging from his spot.

"Ah? Well, I saw you heading off to the change room alone and thought you probably couldn't zip the zipper off yourself since Satsuki was always complaining about that with her dresses so...yeah." The male returned awkwardly.

Kuroko blinked, surprised by his unexpected consideration. He paused...before he turned, concealing a smile meant for the eyes of no one but him.

Well, this unexpected sweetness, was also Aomine Daiki.

"Then please do." Kuroko requested as he felt Aomine's fingers on the back of his neck, whizzing down smoothly with the zipper, revealing the pure and milky flesh beneath.

**[=]**

"Mhmm, thank you Aka-chin~" Murasakibara grinned happily as he stuffed his mouth with a multitude of sweets.

"You're welcome. I did happen to win too many prizes from the different clubs in a mere two hours," Akashi explained, writing something on a desk.

"Oi, Akashi, aren't you spoiling him a bit too much?" Midorima frowned in disapproval as the trio sat in the empty clubroom.

"Mhhn? But I like it when Aka-chin spoils me," Murasakibara shamelessly declared, devouring even more sweets.

"Oi, show some reserve!" Midorima reprimanded. "Honestly, Akashi's been giving you a lot of things as of late, do you have a sense of shame or at least repayment?"

"Mhn? Repayment? As in giving something back?" The purple-haired male asked.

"Well obviously!"

"Hmm...is that so...then, Aka-chin, do you want anything?" Murasakibara asked as his captain looked up from the paper with rare innocence.

"Hmm, would I want anything? That's quite the question to ask Atsushi," Akashi murmured.

"Mhnn? Is that a bad thing to ask?"

Akashi shook his head before those ruby gems darted towards the wall, allowing him to view a tantalizing poster pasted upon it.

"No, not at all. In fact, I do have something I would like?"

"Mhnn what's that?"

A low and dangerous smirk splayed itself onto the boy's lips.

"Not much. Just... a pair of Lebron James basketball shoes."

**[=]**

"Oi, Kise. Dress up as a girl."

The blond model promptly choked, astonished by what Aomine had told him with such an uncaring face.

"What?! Aominecchi, you can't be serious can you?" Kise gaped after Aomine had promptly pulled him into an unused storage room.

"Hey, it's not like I want to do this either, much less with you but this is _important,"_ Aomine repeated.

"Eh? What do you mean by much less with you?!" He demanded. "Besides, if you admit that then I'm definitely not doing it. Don't you understand how this will make all my fans cry?"

Aomine looked up with a hand on his chin, feigning contemplation before he retorted, "do I look like I care?"

"AOMINECCHI!" the blond cried.

"Well, it's settled, you're doing it. I already wrote your name down." Aomine concluded. "Just thought I'd tell you."

"HAH?! Wait no I never agreed to thi-"

Immediately, Aomine grabbed the collar of his shirt, flinging him towards himself.

Gold met that deep navy as Aomine, face only centimeters away from Kise repeated, "You're going. RIGHT?"

Kise's eyes immediately darted away, forming a deep grimace.

He released a dejected sigh.

"Good," Aomine exclaimed with a bright beam, releasing his grip and heading for the door. "Now come on!"

Kise narrowed his eyes, forming a dark pout "...is Aominecchi is only intimidating when Akashicchi's not around?" He spitefully mumbled.

"Ah?"

Kise frowned, "Aominecchi is such a tyrant!" he exclaimed in a sarcastic singsong tone but followed like a moth to flame nonetheless.

**[=]**

"Oi, Shuu-chan, let's go over here next!" Nijimura's classmate called brightly as the black-haired highschooler popped another takoyaki into his mouth with distaste.

"Hey, who the hell are you calling Shuu-chan?" He sighed as he strode over to his friend.

"It's fine isn't it? You're too uptight!"

"I don't want to hear that from someone who's currently failing half his classes," Nijimura retorted, stuffing his last takoyaki into the mouth of his friend and chucking the box into a trash can 2 meters away.

"Woah, you're still seriously amazing at basketball no matter how I look at it," his friend exclaimed, commenting on his free form throw.

"Hah? Me amazing? Your eyes are probably rotting. The true ones that are amazing are the Generation of Miracles of this school." Nijimura scolded.

"Hmm? Is that so? Ah wait, weren't they your juniors? The ones up on stage today?"

Nijimura paused...with a distasteful shudder. "...Yeah."

It seems they had transformed into idiots while he was gone.

Geez, he suddenly felt like pulverizing someone, probably Haizaki.

...Wait, Haizaki wasn't there was he?

Huh, that's strange. From what Nijimura knew of him, he would be one of the first to suggest to make a mess of things.

"Ah ouch!" His classmate protested, snapping Nijimura back from his reverie as he caught his friend colliding with a man in a janitor uniform.

Despite it being relatively hot out, his whole body was covered in the jumpsuit, face covered by the cap and a white sick mask.

"Ah I'm sorry about that," the janitor apologized.

"Eh? No, no! Sorry, I didn't notice where I was going!" His classmate returned with a deep bow.

"Are you two enjoying the festival?" The janitor suddenly asked, startling his friend.

"Eh? N-uh yes! We are! How about you-" he paused, recalling the man's occupation. "Err um, it must be tiring for you to have to work today. There's lots to clean-up!" He awkwardly continued.

"Hmm? Oh it's actually not too much. And right now, I'm actually on break. Have you two gone over to the sports field yet? Apparently there are a lot amusing things to see." The janitor suggested, hand raised and pointing to the field as Nijimura nonchalantly followed.

He froze. From that direction, he caught a familiar silhouette with silver hair, slung around the arm of a busty girl.

"Haizaki...?" He frowned...suddenly recalling all the rumors he heard.

There was one about him playing around and no longer attending practices.

His body instinctively moved forward, wanting to find the truth of the matter.

"Oi sorry Shoji but I'm gonna go check something out for a bit." He cried.

"Huh? W-wait! Shuuzo!" Shoji cried in confusion

"Well I'll be leaving now, excuse me." The janitor bowed, striding away.

"Huh? A-ah yes!" Shoji did the same although...a few minutes later, he realized something important.

"Huh...last year, did we even _have_ a janitor?"

* * *

**AHAHA this chapter was just totally fanservice wasn't it? /shot to death/**

**Also, if you can, please leave a review! It really motivates me to write more and update faster!**

**PPS**. **So um, I made another new story,** although this time it's fem!Kuroko because I wanted to challenge myself again and this story is called "Those of the Birdcage Manor", about how Kuroko loses all memories of her Teiko years and plays basketball again with a new team and new friends. Of course, the GOM won't let this slide...will they? ;D

If you're interested, please take a look!

**Preview:**

**False Eyes**- The festival continues on with the cross-dressing competition. With Kuroko in a dress, he stands on the stage with slight reluctance before a few unexpected rivals appear. Nevertheless, he is determined to win, until he promptly sees Nijimura...with Haizaki. Using his disguise to his advantages, he hears something shocking, something that forces him to half to choose, between the competition or an old and untold truth.


End file.
